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FIFTY YEARS IN CIIAINS5 



OR, 



THE LIFE OF AN 



AMEPiICAN SLA\^E. 



" My God 1 can puch things be t 
ITn«t Thou not said th:vt whatsoo'er la don© 
Uoto thy weakest and thy humblest one, 

Is even done to Theef— Whittib». 




H. DAYTON, PUBLISHER, 

107 NASSAU STREET. 

Ea)I^>fA : INDIANAPOLIS — DAYTON 4 ASUER. 

1859. 



£444 
•B\S4 



_— -— — -^ "TT^ncrcss in tho ye" 1858, by 

....•"-■•»"t.rSl~«-" ^ 



43Centve-St., N.>. 



TRKFACE. 



The story wliicli follows is true in every particular. 
Kesponsible citizens of a neighboring State can vouch 
for the reality of the narrative. The language of the 
slave has not at all times been strictly adhered to, as 
a half century of bondage unfitted him for literary work. 
The subject of the story is still a slave by the laws of this 
country, and it would net be wise to reveal his name. 



FIFTY YEARS LV CHALNS 

OR, 

THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN SLAVE. 
CHAP TEE I. 

SEPARATED FROM MY MOTHER. 

My story is a true one, and I shall tell it in a sim- 
ple style. It will be merely a recital of my life as a 
slave in the Southern States of the Union — a descrip- 
tion of negro slavery in the " model Kepublic." 

My grandfather was brought from Africa and sold 
as a slave in Calvert county, in Maryland. I never 
understood the name of the ship in which he was im- 
ported, nor the name of the planter who bought him 
on his arrival, but at the time I knew him he was a 
slave in a family called Maud, who resided neai 
Leonardtown. My father was a slave in a family 
named Hauty, living near the same place. My mo- 
ther was the slave of a tobacco planter, who died when 



10 Fifty Years in Chains] or, 

I was about four years old. My mother had several 
children, and they were sold upon master's death to 
6e23arate purchasers. She was sold, my father told 
me, to a Georgia trader. I, of all her children, was 
the ol^ly one left in Maryland. When sold I was 
naked, never having had on clothes in my life, hut my 
new master gave me a child's frock, belonging to one 
of his own children. After he had purchased me, he 
dressed me in this garment, took me before him on 
his horse, and started home ; but my poor mother, 
when she saw me leaving her for the last time, ran 
after me, took me down from the horse, clasped me in 
her arms, and wept loudly and bitterly over me. My 
master seemed to pity her. and endeavored to soothe 
her distress by telling her that he would be a good 
master to me, and that I should not want anything. 
She then, still holding me in her arms, walked along 
the road beside the horse as he moved slowly, and 
earnestly and imploringly besought my master to buy 
her and the rest of her children, and not permit them 
to be carried away by the negro buyers ; but whilst 
thus entreating him to save her and her family, the 
slave-driver, vvho had first bought her, came running 
in yjursuit of her with a raw-hide in his hand. When 
he overtook us, he told her he was her master now, 
and ordered her to give that little negro to its owner, 
and come back with Inm. 



The Life of an American Slave. 11 



My mother tlion turned to him and cried, " Oli, mas- 
ter, do not take me from my child \" Without mak- 
ing any rej^ly, he gave her two or three heavy blows 
on the shoulders with his raw-hide, snatched me from 
her arms, handed me to my master, and seizing lier 
by one arm, dragged her back towards the place of 
sale. My master then quickened the pace of his horse ; 
and as we advanced, the cries of my poor parent be- 
came more and more indistinct — at length they died 
away in the distance, and I never again heard the 
voice of my poor mother. Young as I was, the hor- 
rors of that day sank deeply into my heart, and even 
at this time, though half a century has elapsed, the 
terrors of the scene return with painful vividness upon 
my memory. Frightened at the sight of the cruelties 
inflicted upon my poor mother, I forgot my own sor- 
rows at parting from her and clung to my new master, 
as an angel and a saviour, when compared with the 
hardened fiend into whose power she had fallen. She 
had been a kind and good mother to me ; had warm- 
ed me in her bosom in the cold nio-hts of winter ; and 
had often divided the scanty pittance of food allowed 
her by her mistress, between my brothers, and sisters, 
and me, and gone supperless to bed herself. What- 
ever victuals she could obtain beyond the coarse food, 
salt fish and corn bread, allovred to slaves on the Pa- 
tuxent and Potomac rivers, she carefully distril uted 



12 Fifty Years in Cliains ; 07% 



among her children, and treated us with all the ten- 
derness which her own miserable condition would per- 
mit. I have no doubt that she was chained and 
driven to Carolina, and toiled out the residue of a 
forlorn and famished existence in the rice swamps, 
or indigo fields of the South. 

My father never recovered from the effects of the 
shock, which this sudden and overwhelming ruin of 
his family gave him. He had formerly been of a gay, 
social temper, and when he came to see us on a Satur- 
day night, he always brought us some little present, 
such as the means of a poor slave would allow — 
apples, melons, sweet potatoes, or, if he could procure 
nothing else, a little^ parched corn, which tasted better 
in our cabin, because he had brought it. 

He spent the greater part of the time, which his 
master permitted him to pass with us, in relating such 
stories as he had learned from his companions, or in 
sino-ino- the rude songs common amongst the slaves of 
Maryland and Virginia. After this time I never heard 
him laugh heartily, or sing a song. He became gloomy 
and morose in his temper, to all but me ; and spent 
nearly all his leisure time with my grandfather, who 
claimed kindred with some royal family in Africa, and 
had been a great warrior in his native coimtry. The 
master of my father was a hard, penurious man, and 
so exceedingly avarici us, that he scarcely allowed 



The Life of an American Slave. 13 



himself the common conveniences of life. A stran^-er 

o 

to sensibility, he was incapable of tracing the change 
in the temper and deportment of my father, to its 
true cause ; but attributed it to a sullen discontent 
with his condition as a slave, and a desire to abandon 
his service, and seek his liberty by escaping to some 
of the free States. To prevent the perpetration of 
this suspected crime of running aiuay from slavery, 
the old man resolved to sell my father to a southern 
slave-dealer, and accordingly applied to one of those 
men, who was at that time in Calvert, to become the 
purchaser. The price was agreed on, but, as my father 
was a very strong, active, and resolute man, it was 
deemed unsafe for the Georgian to attempt to seize 
him, even with the aid of others, in the day-time, 
when he was at work, as it was known he carried 
upon his person a large knife. It was therefore deter- 
mined to secure him by stratagem, and for this pur- 
pose, a farmer in the neighborhood, who was made 
privy to the plan, alleged that he had lost a pig, 
which must have been stolen by some one, and that 
he suspected my father to be the thief A constable 
was employed to arrest him, but as he was afraid to 
undertake the business alone, he called on his way, at 
the house of the master of my grandfather, to procure 
assistance from the overseer of the plantation. When 
he arri^3d at the house, the overseer was at the barn. 



14 Fifty Years in Cliains ; cr. 



and thither he repaired to make his application. At 
the end of the barn was the coach-house, and as the 
day was cool, to avoid the wind which was high, the 
two walked to the side of the coach-house to talk over 
the matter, and settle their plan of operations. It so 
happened that ray grandfather, whose business it was 
to keep the coach in good condition, was at work at 
this time, rubbing the plated handles of the doors, and 
brightening the other metallic parts of the vehicle. 
Hearing the voice of the overseer without, he suspend- 
ed his work, and listening attentively, became a party 
to their councils. They agreed that they would delay 
the execution of their project until the next day, as it 
was then late. They supposed they would have no 
difficulty in apprehending their intended victim, as, 
knowing himself innocent of the theft, he would 
readily consent to go with the constable to a justice 
of the peace, to have the charge examined. That 
night, however, about midnight, my grandfather 
silently repaired to the cabin of my father, a distance 
of about three miles, aroused him from his sleep, 
made him acquainted with the extent of his danger, 
gave him a bottle of cider and a small bag of parched 
corn, and then enjoined him to fly from the destina- 
tion which awaited him. In the morning the Georgian 
could not find his newly purchased slave, who was 
never seer or heard of in Maryland from that day. 



The Life of an American Slave. 15 



After the flight of my father, my grandfather was 
the only person left in Maryland with whom I could 
claim kindred. He was an old man, nearly eighty 
years old, he said, and he manifested all the fondness 
for me that I could exjoect from one so old. He was 
feehle, and his master required but little work from 
him. He always expressed contempt for his fellow- 
slaves, for when young, he was an African of rank in 
his native land. He had a small cabin of his own, 
with half an acre of ground attached to it, which he 
cultivated on his own account, and from which he 
drew a large share of his sustenance. He had singular 
religious notions— never going to meeting or caring 
for the preachers he could, if he would, occasionally 
hear. He retained his native traditions respecting the 
Deity and hereafter. It is not strange that he beireved 
the religion of his oppressors to be the invention of 
designing men, for the text oftenest quoted in his 
hearing was, " Servants, be obedient to your masters." 
The name of the man who purchased me at the 
vendue, and became my master, was John Cox ; but 
he was generally called Jack Cox. He was a mLi of 
kindly feelings towards his family, and treated his 
slaves, of whom he had several besides me, with hu- 
manity. He permitted my grandfather to visit me as 
often as he pleased, and allowed him sometimes to 
carry me to his own cabin, which stood in a lonely 



16 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 

place, at the head of a deep hollow, almost surround- 
ed by a thicket of cedar trees, which had grown up in 
a worn out and abandoned tobacco field. My master 
gave me better clothes than the little slaves of my 
age generally received in Calvert, and often told me 
that he intended to make me his waiter, and that if I 
behaved well I should become his overseer in time. 
These stations of waiter and overseer appeared to me 
to be the highest points of honor and greatness in the 
whole world, and had not circumstances frustrated my 
master's plans, as well as my own views, I should 
probably have been living at this time in a cabin on 
the corner of some tobacco plantation. 

Fortune had decreed otherwise. When I was about 
twelve years old, my master, Jack Cox, died of a dis- 
ease which had long confined him to the house. I 
was sorry for the death of my master, who had always 
been kind to me ; and I soon discovered that I had 
good cause to regret his departure from this world. 
He had several children at the time of his death, who 
were all young ; the oldest being about my own age. 
The father of my late master, who was still living, 
became administrator of his estate, and took posses- 
sion of his property, and amongst the rest, of myself 
This old gentleman treated me with the greatest 
severity, and compelled me to work very hard on his 
plantation for sBveral years, until I suppose I must 



The Life of an American Slave. 17 

have been near or quite twenty years of age. As I 
was always very obedient, and ready to execute all 
liis orders, I did not receive much whipping, but suf- 
fered greatly for want of sufficient and proper food. 
My master allowed his slaves a peck of corn, each, per 
week, throughout the year ; and this we had to grind 
into meal in a hand-mill for ourselves. We had a 
tolerable supply of meat for a short time, about the 
month of December, when he killed his hogs. After 
that season we had meat once a week, unless bacon 
became scarce, which very often happened, in which 
case we had no meat at all. However, as we fortu- 
nately lived near both the Patuxent river and the 
Chesapeake Bay, we had abundance of fish in the 
spring, and as long as the fishing season continued. 
After that period, each slave received, in addition to 
his allowance of corn, one salt herring every day. 

My master gave me one pair of shoes, one pair of 
stockings, one hat, one jacket of coarse cloth, two 
coarse shirts, and two pair of trowsers, yearly. He 
allowed me no other clothes. In the winter time I 
often suffered very much from the cold ; as I had to 
drive the team of oxen which hauled the tobacco to 
market, and frequently did not get home until late at 
night, the distance being considerable, and my cattle 
traveled very slow. 

One Saturday evening, when I came home from th© 



18 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 

com field, my master told me that he had hired me 
out for a year at the city of Washington, and that I 
would have to live at the Navy Yard. 

On the New Year's day following, which happened 
ahout two weeks afterwards, my master set forward 
for Washington, on horseback, and ordered me to ac- 
company him on foot. It was night when we arrived 
at the Navy Yard, and everything appeared very 
strange to me. 

I was told by a gentleman who had epaulets on his 
shoulders, that I must go on board a large ship, which 
lay 'in the river. He at the same time told a boy to 
show me the way. This ship proved to be a frigate, 
and I was told that I had been brought there to cook 
for the people belonging to her. In the course of a 
few days the duties of my station became quite fa- 
miliar to me ; and in the enjoyment of a profusion of 
excellent provisions, I felt very happy. I strove by 
all means to please the officers and gentlemen who 
came on board, and in this I soon found my account. 
One gave me a half-worn coat, another an old shirt, 
and a third, a cast off waistcoat and pantaloons. 
Some presented me with small sums of money, and 
in this way I soon found myself well clothed, and with 
more than a dollar in my pocket. My duties, though 
constant, were not burthersome, and I was permitted 
to spend Sunday afternoon in my own way. I gener- 



The Life of an Amcrica'i Slave. IS 



ally went up into tlie city to see the new and splendid 
buildings ; often wallced as far as Georgetown, and 
made many new acquaintances among the slaves, and 
frequently saw large numbers of people of my color 
chained together in long trains, and driven off towards 
the South. At that time the slave-trade was not re- 
garded with so much indignation and disgust, as it is 
now. It was a rare thing to hear of a person of color 
running away, and escaping altogether from his mas- 
ter : my father being the only one within my know- 
ledge, who had, before this time, obtained his liberty 
in this manner, in Calvert county ; and, as before 
stated, I never heard what became of him after his 
flight. 

I remained on board the frigate, and about the Navy 
Yard, two years, and was quite satisfied with my lot, 
until about three months before the expiration of this 
period, when it so happened that a schooner, loaded 
with iron and other materials for the use of the yard, 
arrived from Philadelphia. She came and lay close 
by the frigate, to discharge her cargo, and amongst 
her crew I observed a black man, with whom, in the 
course of a day or two, I became acquainted. He 
told me he was free, and lived in Philadelphia, where 
he kept a house of entertainment for sailors, which, he 
eaid, was attended to in his absence by his wife. 

His description of Philadelphia, and of the liberty 



20 Fifty Years in Uliains ; or, 



enjoyed there by the black people, so charmed my 
imagination that I determined to devise some plan of 
escaping from the frigate, and making my way to the 
North. I communicated my designs to my new friend, 
who promised to give me his aid. We agreed that 
the night before the schooner should sail, I was to be 
concealed in the hold, amongst a parcel of loose 
tobacco, which, he said, the captain had undertaken 
to carry to Philadelphia. The saihng of the schooner 
was delayed longer than we expected ; and, finally, 
her captain purchased a cargo of flour in Georgetown, 
and sailed for the West Indies. Whilst I was anx- 
iously awaiting some other opportunity of making my 
way to Philadelphia, (the idea of crossing the country 
to the western part of Pennsylvania, never entered my 
mind,) Kew Year's day came, and with it came my 
old master from Calvert, accompanied by a gentleman 
named Gibson, to whom, he said, he had sold me, and 
to whom he delivered me over in the Navy Yard. 
We all three set out that same evening for Calvert, 
and reached the residence of my new master the next 
day. Here, I was informed, that I had become the 
subject of a law-suit. My new master claimed mo 
under his purchase from old Mr. Co* ; and another 
gentleman of the neighborhood, named Levin Ballard, 
had bought me of the children of my former master. 
Jack Cox This suit continued in the courts of Cal 



Tlie Life oj an American Slave. 21 

vert county more than two years ; but was finally de- 
cided in favor of him who had bought me of the 
children. 

I went home with my master, Mr. Gibson, who was 
a farmer, and with whom I lived three years. Soon 
after I came to live with Mr. Gibson, I married a girl 
of color named Judah, the slave of a gentleman by 
the name of Symmes, who resided in the same neigh- 
borhood. I was at the house of Mr. Symmes every 
week ; and became as well acquainted with him and 
his family, as I was with my master. 

Mr. Symmes also married a wife about the time I 
did. The lady whom he married lived near Philadel- 
phia, and when she first came to Maryland, she re- 
fused to be served by a black chambermaid, but em- 
ployed a while girl, the daughter of a poor man, who 
lived near. The lady was reported to be very wealthy, 
and brought a large trunk full of plate and other 
valuable articles. This trunk was so heavy that I 
could scarcely carry it, and it impressed my mind 
with the idea of great riches in the owner, at that 
time. After some time Mrs. Symmes dismissed her 
white chambermaid and placed my wife in that situa- 
tion, whicl:.! regarded as a fortunate circumstance, as 
it insured her good food, and at least one good suit 
of clothes. 

The Symmes' family was one of the most ancient 



22 Fiftij Years in Chains ; or, 

in Maryland, and had been a long time resident in 
Calvert county. The grounds had been laid out, and 
all the improvements projected about the family abode, 
in a style of much magnificence, according to the 
custom of the old aristocrary of Maryland and Virginia. 
Appendant to the domicile, and at no great distance 
from the house, was a family vault, built of brick, in 
which reposed the occupants of the estate, who had 
lived there for many previous generations. This 
vault had not been opened or entered for fifteen years 
previous to the time of which I speak ; but it so hap- 
pened, that at this period, a young man, a distant 
relation of the family, died, having requested on his 
death-bed, that he might be buried in this family 
resting place. When I came on Saturday evening to 
see my wife and child, Mr. Symmes desired me, as I 
was older than any of his black men, to take an iron 
pick and go and open the vault, which I accordingly 
did, by cutting away the mortar, and removing a few 
bricks from one side of the building ; but I could not 
remove more than three or four bricks before I was 
obliged, by the horrid effluvia which issued at the 
aperture, to retire. It was the most deadly and sick- 
ening scent that I have ever smelled, and I could not 
return to complete the work until after the sun had 
risen the next day, when I pulled down so much of 
Qxxr of the side walls, as to permit persons to walk in 



The Life of an American Slave. 23 



upright. I then went in alone, and examined this 
house of the dead, and surely no j^icture could more 
strongly and vividly depict the emptiness of all earthly 
vanity, and the nothingness of human pride. Disper- 
sed over the floor lay the fragments of more than 
twenty human skeletons, each in the j^lace where it 
had heen deposited by the idle tenderness of surviving 
friends. In some cases nothing remained but the hair 
and the larger bones, whilst in several the form of the 
coffin was yet visible, with all the bones resting in 
their proper places. One coffin, the sides of which 
were yet standing, the lid only having decayed and 
partly fallen in, so as to disclose the contents of this 
narrow cell, presented a peculiarly moving spectacle. 
Upon the centre of the lid was a large silver plate, and 
the head and foot were adorned with silver stars. — 
The nails which had united the parts of the coffin had 
also silver heads. Within lay the skeletons of a mo- 
ther and her infiint child, in slumbers only to be 
broken by the peal of the last trumpet. The bones 
of the infant lay upon the breast of the mother, where 
the hands of affection had shrouded them. The ribs 
of the parent had fallen down, and rested on the back 
bone. Many gold rings were about the bones of the 
fingers. Brilliant ear-rings lay beneath where the ears 
had been ; and a glittering gold chain encircled the 
ghastly and haggard vetebrae of a once beautiful neck. 



24 Fifty Yeai^s in Cliains ; or, 

The shroud and flesh had disappeared, but the hair of 
the mother appeared strong and fresh. Even the 
silken locks of the infant were still preserved. Behold 
the end of youth and beauty, and of all that is lovely 
in life ! The coffin was so much decayed that it 
could not be removed. A thick and dismal vapor 
hung embodied from the roof and walls of this chamal 
house, in appearance somewhat like a mass of dark 
cobwebs ; but which was impalpable to the touch, and 
when stirred by the hand vanished away. On the 
second day we deposited with his kindred, the corpse 
of the young man, and at night I again carefully 
closed up the breach which I had made in the "v^alis 
of this dwelling-place of the dead. 



The Life -yf an American Slave. 25 



CHAPTER I] 



Some short time after my wife became chambermaid 
to her mistress, it was my misfortune to change mas- 
ters once more. Levin Ballard, who, as before stated, 
had purchased me of the children of my former master, 
Jack Cox, was successful in his law suit with Mr. 
Gibson, the object of which was to determine the 
right of property in me ; and one day, whilst I was at 
work in the corn-field, Mr. Ballard came and told me 
I was his property ; asking me at the same time if I 
was willing to go with him. I told him I was not 
willing to go ; but that if I belonged to him I knew 
I must. We then went to the house, and Mr. Gibson 
not being at home, Mrs. Gibson told me I must go 
with Mr. Ballard. 

I accordingly went with him, determining to serve 
him obediently and faithfully. I remained in his ser- 
vice almost three years, and as he lived near the resi- 
dence of my w^ife's master, my former mode of life 

was not materially changed, bv this change of home. 

2 



2G ^il^iy Years in Chains ; or, 



Mrs. Symmes spent much of her time in exchang- 
ing visits with the families of the other large planters, 
both in Calvert and the neighboring counties ; and 
through my wife, I became acquainted with the pri- 
vate family history of many of the principal persons 
in Maryland. 

There was a great proprietor, who resided in another 
county, who owned several hundred slaves ; and who 
permitted them to beg of travelers on the high-way. 
This same gentleman had several daughters, and ac- 
cording to the custom of the time, kept what they 
called open house : that is, his house was free to all 
persons of genteel appearance, who chose to visit it. 
The young ladies were supposed to be the greatest 
fortunes in the country, were reputed beautiful, and 
consequently were greatly admired. 

Two gentlemen, who were lovers of these girls, de- 
sirous of amusing their mistresses, invited a young 
man, whose standing in society they supposed to be 
beneath theirs, to go with them to the manor, as it 
was called. When there, they endeavored to make 
him an object of ridicule, in presence of the ladies ; 
but he so well acquitted himself, and manifested such 
superior wit and talents, that one of the young ladies 
fell in love with him, and soon after wrote him a let- 
ter, which led to their marriage. His two pretended 
friends were n^ve"* afterwards countenanced by tho 



Tlie lAfe of an American Slave. 27 

family, as gentlemen of honor ; but the fortunate 
liushancl avenged hhnself of his heartless com2'>anions, 
Ly inviting them to his wedding, and exposing them 
to the observation of the vast assemblacie of fashion- 
able people, who always attended a marriage, in the 
family of a great i^lanter. 

The two gentlemen, who had been thus made to 
fall into the pit that they had dug for another, were 
so much chagrined at the issue of the adventure, that 
one soon left Maryland ; and the other became a com- 
mon drunkard, and died a few years afterwards. 

My change of masters realized all the evil ajopre- 
hensions which I had entertained. I found Mr. Bal- 
lard sullen and crabbed in his tenijier, and always 
prone to find fault with my conduct — no matter how 
hard I had labored, or how careful I was to fulfil all 
his orders, and obey his most unreasonable commands. 
Yet, it so happened, that he never beat me, for which, 
I was altogether indebted to the good character, for 
industry, sobriety and humility, which I had estab- 
lished in the neighborhood. I think he was ashamed 
to abuse me, lest he should suffer in the good opinion 
of the public ; for he often fell into the most violent 
fits of anger against me, and overwhelmed me with 
coarse and abusive language. He did not give me 
clothes enough to keep me warm in winter, and com- 
pelled me to wDrk in the woods, when there was deep 



28 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



snow on tlie ground, by wliicli I suffered very mucli. 
I had determined at last to speak to him to sell me tc 
some i3erson in the neighborhood, so that I might still 
be near my wife and children — but a different fate 
awaited me. 

My master kept a store at a small village on the 

bank of the Patuxent river, called B , although 

he resided at some distance on a farm. One morning 
he rose early, and ordered me to take a yoke of oxen 
and go to the village, to bring home a cart which was 
there, saying he would follow me. He arrived at the 
village soon after I did^ and took his breakfast with 
his store-keeper. He then told me to come into the 
house and get my breakfast. Whilst I was eating in 
the kitchen, I observed him talking earnestly, but 
low, to a stranger near the kitchen door. I soon after 
went out, and hitched my oxen to the cart, and was 
about to drive off, when several men came round about 
me, and amongst them the stranger whom I had seen 
speaking with my master. This man came up to me, 
and, seizing me by the collar, shook me violently, say- 
ing I w^as his property, and must go with him to 
Georgia. At the sound of these w^ords, the thoughts 
of my wife and children rushed across my mind, and 
my heart beat away within me. I saw and knew that 
my case was hopeless, and that resistance was vain, 
as there were near twenty persons yTcsent, all of whom 



The Life of an American Slave. 29 



were ready to assist the man by whom I was kidnap- 
ped. I felt incapable of weeping or speaking, and ii 
my despair I laughed loudly. My purchaser ordered 
me to cross my hands behind, which were quickly 
bound with a strong cord ; and he then told me thai 
we must set out that very day for the South. I asked 
if I could not be allowed to go to see my wife and 
children, or if this could not be permitted, if they 
might not have leave to come to see me ; but was 
told that I would be able to get another wife in 
Georgia. 

My new master, whose name I did not hear, took 
me that same day across the Patuxent, where I joined 
fifty-one other slaves, w^hom he had bought in Mary- 
land. Thirty- two of these were men, and nineteen 
were women. The women were merely tied together 
with a rope, about the size of a bed-cord, which was 
tied like a halter round the neck of each ; but the 
men, of whom I was the stoutest and strongest, were 
very differently caparisoned. A strong iron collar 
was closely fitted by means of a padlock round each 
of our necks. A chain of iron, about a hundred feet 
in length, was passed through the hasp of each pad- 
lock, except at the two ends, where the hasps of the 
padlock passed through a link of the chain. In addi- 
tion to this, we were handcuffed in pairs, with iron 
staples and bolts, with a short chain, about a foot 



30 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



Ions:, uniting the handcuffs and their wearers in pairs. 
In this manner we were chained alternately by the 
right and left hand ; and the poor man to whom I 
was thus ironed, wept like an infant when the black- 
smith, with his heavy hammer, fastened the ends of 
the bolts that kept the staples from slipping from our 
arms. For my own part, I felt indifferent to my fate. 
It appeared to me that the worst had come that could 
come, and that no change of fortune could harm me. 
After Vv^e were all chained and handcuffed together, 
we sat down upon the ground ; and here reflecting 
upon the sad reverse of fortune that had so suddenly 
overtaken me, I became weary of life, and bitterly 
execrated the day I was born. It seemed that I ^vns 
destined by fate to drink the cup of sorrow to the 
very dregs, and that I should find no respite from 
misery but in the grave. I longed to die, and escape 
from the hands of my tormentors ; but even the 
wretched privilege of destroying myself was denied 
me, for I could not shake off my chains, nor move a 
yard without the consent of my master. Eefiecting 
in silence upon my forlorn condition, I at length con- 
cluded that as things could not become worse — and 
as the life of man is but a continued round of changes, 
they must, of necessity, take a turn in my favor at 
some future day. I found relief in this vague and 
indefinite hope, anc when we received orders to go on 



Tiie Life of an ximcrican Slave. 31 



l^oard the scow, whicli was to transport us over the 
Patuxent, I marched iown to the water with' a ^rm- 
ness of purpose of which I did not believe myself capa- 
ble, a few minutes before. 

We were soon on the south side of the river, and 
taking up our line of march, we traveled about five 
miles that evening, and stopped for the night at one 
of those miserable public houses, so frequent in the 
lower parts of Maryland and Virginia, called " orcU- 
navies." 

Our master ordered a pot of mush to be made for 
our supper ; after despatching which we all lay down 
on the naked floor to sleep in our handcuffs and chains. 
The v.'omen, my fellow-slaves, lay on one side of the 
room ; and the men who were chained with me, occu- 
pied the other. I slept but little this night, which I 
passed in thinking of my wife and little children, 
whom I could not hope ever to see again. I also 
thought of my grandfather, and of the long nights I 
had passed with him, listening to his narratives of the 
scenes through which he had passed in Africa. I at 
length fell asleep, but was distressed by painful dreams. 
My wife and children appeared to be weeping and 
lamenting my calamity ; and beseeching and implor- 
ing my master on their knees, not to carry me away 
from them. My little boy came and begged me not 
to go and leave him, and endeavored, as I thpught, 



\ 



32 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

with liis little hands to break the fetters that bound 
me. I awoke in agony and cursed my existence. I 
could not pray, for the measure of my woes seemed to 
be full, and I felt as if there was no mercy in heaven, 
nor comjDassion on earth, for a man who was born a 
slave. Day at length came, and with the dawn, we 
resumed our journey towards the Potomac. As we 
passed along the road, I saw the slaves at work in the 
corn and tobacco fields. I knew they toiled hard and 
lacked food ; but they w^ere not, like me, dragged in 
chains from their waives, children and friends. Com- 
pared with me, they were the happiest of mortals. I 
almost envied them their blessed lot. 

Before night we crossed the Potomac, at Hoe's 
Ferrj^, and bade farewell to Maryland. At night we 
stopped at the house of a poor gentleman, at least he 
appeared to wish my master to consider him a gentle- 
man ; and he had no difficulty in establishing his 
claim to poverty. He lived at the side of the road, in 
a framed house, w^hich had never been plastered with- 
in — the weather-boards being the only wall. He had 
about fifty acres of land enclosed by a fence, the re- 
mains of a farm which had once covered two or three 
hundred acres ; but the cedar bushes had encroached 
upon all sides, until the cultivation had been confined 
to its present limits. The land was the picture of 
sterility, and there was neither barn nor stable on the 



The Life of an American Slave 33 

place. The owner was ragged, and liis wife and chil- 
dren were in a similar plight. It was with difficulty 
that we obtained a bushel of corn, which our master 
ordered us to parch at a fire made in the yard, and to 
eat for our supper. Even this miserable family pos- 
sessed two slaves, half-starved, half-naked wretches, 
whose appearance bespoke them familiar with hunger, 
and victims of the lash ; but yet there was one pang 
which they had not known — they had not been chained 
and driven from their parents or children^ into hopeless 
exile. 

We left this place early in the morning, and direct- 
ed our course toward the south-west ; our master 
riding beside us, and hastening our march, sometimes 
by words of encouragement, and sometimes by threats 
of punishment. The women took their place in the 
rear of our line. We halted about nine o'clock for 
breakfast, and received as much corn-bread as Ave 
could eat, together with a plate of boiled herrings, and 
about three pounds of pork amongst us. Before we 
left this place, I was removed from near the middle of 
the chain, and j)laced at the front end of it ; so that 
I now became the leader of the file, and held this post 
of honor until our irons were taken from us, near the 
town of Columbia in South Carolina. We continued 
our route this day along the high road between the 

Potomac and Kappahannock ; and I saw each of those 

2* 



34 Fifhj Years in Chains ; or, 

rivers several times before niglit. Our master gave us 
BO dinner to-day, but we halted and got as much 
corn-mush and sour milk as we could eat for suj)per. 
The weather grew mild and pleasant, and we needed 
no more fires at nidit. 

o 

From this time we all slept promiscuously, men and 
women on the floors of such houses as we chanced to 
stoj") at. "We passed on through Bowling Green, a 
quiet village. 

Time did not reconcile me to my chains, hut it made 
me familiar with them. I reflected on my desperate 
situation with a degree of calmness, hoping that I 
might be able to devise some means of escape. My 
master placed a particular value upon me, for I heard 
him tell a tavern-keeper that if he had me in Georgia 
he could get eight hundred dollars for me, but he had 
bought me for his brother, and believed he should not 
sell me ; he afterwards changed his mind, however. 
I carefully examined every part of our chain, but found 
no place where it could be separated. 

We all had as much corn-bread as we could eat, 
procured of our owner at the places v^^e stopped at for 
the night. In addition to this we usually had a salt 
herring every day. On Sunday we had a quarter of a 
pound of bacon each. 

We continued our course up the country westward 
fur a few days and then turned South, crossed James 



The Life of an American Slave. 35 



river above Eichmond, as I heard at tlie time. After 
more than four weeks of travel we entered South Caro- 
lina near Camden, and for the first time I saw a field 
of cotton in bloom. 

As we approached the Yadkin river the tobacco 
disappeared from the fields and the cotton i^lant took 
its place as an article of general cujture. 

I was now a slave in South Carolina, and had no 
hope of ever again seeing my wife and children. I 
had at times serious thoughts of suicide so great was 
my anguish. If I could have got a rope I should 
have hanged myself at Lancaster. The thought of 
my wife and children I had been torn from in Mary- 
land, and the dreadful undefined future which was 
before me, came near drivin<r me mad. It was Ions: 
after midnight before I fell asleep, but the most plea- 
sant dream, succeeded to these soiTOwful forebodings. 
I thought I had escaped my master, and througli 
great difiiculties made my way back to Maryland, and 
was again in my wife's cabin with my little children 
on my lap. Every object was so vividly impressed on 
my mind in this dream, that when I awoke, a firm 
conviction settled upon my mind, that by some means, 
at present incomprehensible to me, I should yet again 
embrace my wife, and caress my children in their 
humble dwellmg. Early in the morning, our master 
called us up : and distributed to each of the party a 



36 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

cake made of com-meal and a small piece of bacon. 
On our journey, we had only eaten twice a day, and 
had not received breakfast until about nine o'clock ; 
but he said this morning meal was given to welcome 
us to South Carolina. He then addressed us all, and 
told us we might now give up all hope of ever return- 
ing to the places of our nativity ; as it would be im- 
possible for us to pass through the States of North 
Carolina and Virginia, without being taken up and 
sent back. He further advised us to make ourselves 
contented, as he would take us to Georgia, a far bet- 
ter country than any we had seen ; and where we 
would be able to live in the greatest abundance. 
About sunrise we took up our march on the road to 
Columbia, as we were told. Hitherto our master had 
not offered to sell any of us, and had even refused to 
stop to talk to any one on the subject of our sale, al- 
though he had several times been addressed on this 
point, before we reached Lancaster ; but soon after 
we departed from this village, we were overtaken on 
the road by a man on horseback, who accosted our 
driver by asking him if his niggars were for sale. 
The latter replied, that he believed he would not sell 
any yet, as he was on his way to Georgia, and cotton 
being now much in demand, he expected to obtain 
high prices for us from persons who were going to 
settle in the new purchase He, however, contrary to 



The Life of an American Slave. 37 



his custom, ordered us to stop, and told tlie stranger 
he might look at us, and that he would find us as fine 
a lot of hands as were ever imported into the country 
—that we were all prime property, and he had no 
douht would command his own prices in Georgia. 

The stranger, who was a thin, weather-heaten, sun- 
burned figure, then said, he wanted a couple of breed- 
ing wenches, and would give as much for them as they 
would bring in Georgia— that he had lately heard 
from Augusta, and that ni'rjgcrs were not higher there 
than in Columbia, and, as he had been in Columbia 
the week before, he knew what mrjrjers were worth. 
He then walked along our line, as we stood chained 
tocrether, and looked at the whole of us-then turning 
to°the women, asked the prices of the two pregnant 
ones. Our master replied, that these were two of the 
best breeding-wenches in all Maryland-that one was 
twentv-two, and the other only nineteen— that the 
first was already the mother of seven children, and 
the other of four— that he had himself seen the chil- 
dren at the time he bought their mothers-and that 
such wenches would be cheap at a thousand dollars 
each • but as they were not able to keep up with the 
gang,' he would take twelve hundred dollars for the 
two? The purchaser said this was too much, but that 
he would -ive nine hundred dollars for the pair. This 
.n-ice was^Dror^ptly refused ; but our master, after 



38 Fifty Years in Chains ; or^ 

some consideration, said he was willing to sell a bar- 
gain in these wenches, and would take eleven hundred 
dollars for them, which was objected to on the other 
side ; and many faults and failings were pointed out 
in the merchandise. After much bargaining, and many 
gross jests on the part of the stranger, he offered a 
thousand dollars for the two, and said he would give 
no more. He then mounted his horse, and moved 
off ; but after he had gone about one hundred yards, 
he was called back ; and our master said, if he would 
go with him to the next blacksmith's shop on the 
road to Columbia, and pay for taking the irons off 
the rest of us, he might have the two women. 

This proposal was agreed to, and as it was now 
about nine o'clock, we were ordered to hasten on to 
the next house, where, we were told, we must stop 
for breakfast. At this place we were informed that it 
was ten miles to the next smith's shoi"), and our new 
acquaintance was obliged by the terms of his contract, 
to accompany us thither. We received for breakfast, 
about a pint of boiled rice to each person, and after 
this was despatched, we again took to the road, eager 
to reach the blacksmith's shop, at which we expected 
to be relieved of the iron rings and chains, which had 
so long galled and worried us. About two o'clock we 
arrived at the longed-for residence of the smith ; but, 
on inq'iiry, our master was informed that he was not 



The Life of an American Slave. 39 



at home, and would not return before evening. Here 
a controversy arose, whether we should all remain here 
until the smith returned, or the stranger should go on 
with us to the next smithcr}^, which was said to be 
only five miles distant. This was a point not easily 
settled between two such spirits as our master and the 
stranf^er ; both of whom had been overseers in their 
time, and both of whom had risen to the rank of pro- 
prietors of slaves. 

The matter had already produced angry words, and 
much vaunting on the part of the stranger ; — "that a 
freeman of South Carolina was not to be imposed up- 
on ; that by the constitution of the State, his rights 
were sacred, and he was not to be deprived of his 
liberty, at the arbitrary will of a man just from amongst 
the Yankees, and who had brought with him to the 
South as many Yankee tricks as ho had niggers, and 
he believed many more." He then swore, that " all 
the niggers in the drove were Yankee niggers." 

" When I overseed for Colonel Polk," said he, " on 
his rice plantation, he had two Yankee niggers that 
he brought from Maryland, and they were running 
away every day. I gave them a hundred lashes more 
than a dozen times ; but they never quit running 
away, till I chained them together, with iron collars 
round their necks, and chained them to spades, and 
made them do nothing but dig ditches to drain the 



40 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

rice swamps. Tliey could not run away then, unless 
they went together, and carried their chains and spades 
with them. I kept them in this way two years, and 
better niggers I never had. One of them died one 
night, and the other was never good for anything after 
he lost his mate. He never ran away afterwards, but 
he died too, after a while." He then addressed him- 
self to the two women, whose master he had become, 
and told them that if ever they ran away, he would treat 
them in the same way. Wretched as I was myself, 
my heart bled for these poor creatures, who had fallen 
into the hands of a tiger in human form. The dispute 
between the two masters was still raging, when, un- 
expectedly, the blacksmith rode up to his house, on a 
thin, bony-looking horse, and dismounting, asked his 
wife what these gentlemen were making such ixfrolich 
about. I did not hear her answer, but both the dis- 
putants turned and addressed themselves to the smith 
— the one to know what price he would demand to 
take the irons off all these niggers, and the other to 
know how long it would take him to perform the 
work. It is here proper for me to observe, that there 
are many j^hrases of language in common use in Caro- 
lina and Georgia, which are applied in a way that 
would not be understood by persons from one of the 
Northern States. For instance, when several persons 
are quarrelling, brawling, making a great noise, or 



The Life of an American Slave. 41 



even fighting, tliey say, " tie gentlemen are frolicJc- 
'nrjr I heard many other terms equally strange, 
vThilst I resided in the southern country, amongst such 
white people as I became acquainted with ; though 
my acquaintance was confined, in a great measure, to 
overseers, and such people as did not associate with 
the rich planters and great families. 

The smith at length agreed to take the irons from 
the whole of us for two dollars and fifty cents, and 
immediately set about it, with the air of indifference 
that he would have manifested in tearing a pair of old 
shoes from the hoofs of a w\agon-horse. It was four 
weeks and five days, from the time my irons had been 
riveted upon me, until they were removed, and great 
as had been my sufferings whilst chained to my fellow- 
slaves, I cannot say that I felt any pleasure in being 
released from my long confinement ; for I knew that 
my liberation was only preparatory to my final, and, 
as I feared, perpetual subjugation to the power of 
some such monster, as the one then before me, who 
was preparing to drive away the two imfortunate wo- 
men whom he had purchased, and whose life's-blood 
he had acquired the power of shedding at pleasure, 
for the sum of a thousand dollars. After we were 
released from our chains, our master sold the whole 
lot of irons, which we had borne from Maryland, to 
the blacksmith, for seven doll?. 'S. 



42 Fiftij Years in Chains ; or, 

The smith then procured a bottle of runij and 
treated his two new acquaintances to a j^art of its 
contents — wishing them both good luck with their 
niggers. After these civilities were over, the two wo- 
men w^ere ordered to follow their new master, who 
shaped his course across the country, by a road lead- 
ing westwest. At parting from us, they both wept 
aloud, and wrung their hands in despair. We' all 
went to them, and bade them a last farewell. Their 
road led into a wood, which they soon entered, and I 
never saw them nor heard of them again. 

These women had both been driven from Calvert 
county, as well as myself, and the fate of the younger 
of the two, w^as peculiarly severe. 

She had been brought up as a waiting-maid of a 
young lady, the daughter of a gentleman, whose wife 
and family often visited the mistress of my own wife. 
I had frequently seen this woman when she was a 
young girl, in attendance upon her young mistress, 
and riding in the same carriage with her. The father 
of the young lady died, and soon after she married a 
gentleman who resided a few miles off. The husband 
received a considerable fortune with his bride, and 
amonfrst other thinsfs, her waitino-maid, who was re- 
puted a great beauty among people of color. He had 
been addicted to the fashionable sports of the coun- 
try, before marriage, such as horse-racing, fox-hunt- 



Tlte Life of an American Slave. 43 



ing, &c., and I liad heard the bhick people say he drank 
too freely ; but it was supposed that he would cor- 
rect all these irregularities after marriage, more espe- 
cially as his wife was a great belle, and withal very 
handsome. The reverse, however, turned out to be 
the fact. Instead of growing better, he became worse ; 
and in the course of a few years, was known all ovei 
the country, as a druidcard and a gambler. His wife, 
it was said, died of grief, and soon after her death, his 
effects were seized by his creditors, and sold by the 
sheriff. The former waiting-maid, now the niothei 
of several children, was purchased by our present Kias- 
ter, for four hundred dollars, at the sheriff's sale, and 
this poor wretch, whose employment in early life had 
been to take care of her young mistress, and attend 
to her in her chamber, and at her toilet, after being 
torn from her husband and her children, had now gone 
to toil out a horrible existence* beneath the scorching 
sun of a South Carolina cotton-field, under the do- 
minion of a master, as void of the manners of a gentle- 
man, as he was of the language of humanity. 

It was now late in the afternoon ; but, as we had 
made little progress to-day, and were now divested of 
the burden of our chains, as well as freed from the 
two women, who had hitherto much retarded our 
marcb, our master ordered us to hasten on our way, 
as we had ten m les to go that evening. I had 



44 Fifty Yet.rs in CJia.'ns ; or, 

been so long oppressed by tbe weight of my chains, 
and the iron collar about my neck, that for some time 
after I commenced walking at my natural liberty, I 
felt a kind of giddiness, or lightness of the head. 
Most of my companions complained of the same sen- 
sation, and we did not recover our proper feelings 
until after we had slept one night. It was after dark 
when we arrived at our lodging-place, which proved 
to be the house of a small cotton-jolanter, who, it 
appeared, kept a sort of a house of entertainment for 
travelers, contrary to what I afterwards discovered to 
be the usual custom of cotton-planters. This man 
and my master had known each other before, and 
seemed to be well acquainted. He was the first per- 
son that we ha'd met since leaving Maryland, who 
was known to my master, and as they kept wp a very 
free conversation, through the course of the evening, 
and the house in v>'hich they were, was only separated 
from the kitchen, in which we were lodged, by a space 
of a few feet, I had an opportunity of hearing much 
that was highly interesting to me. The landlord, 
after supper, came with our master to look at us, and 
to see us receive our allowance of boiled rice from the 
hands of a couple of black women, who had j repared 
it in a large iron kettle. Whilst viewing us, the 
formei asked the latter, what he intended to do with 
his drove ; but no reply was made to this inquiry — 



The Life of an American Slave. 45 

and as our master had, tlirougli our whole journey, 
maintained a studied silence on this subject, I felt a 
great curiosity to know wliat disposition he intended 
to make of the whole gang, and of myself in particu- 
lar. On their return to the house, I advanced to a 
small window in the kitchen, which brought me within 
a few yaids of the place where they sat, and from 
which I was aljlc to hear all they said, although they 
spoke in a low tone of voice. I here learned, that so 
many of us as could be sold for a good price, were to 
be disposed of in Columbia, on our arrival at that 
place, and that the residue would be driven to Augusta 
and sold there. 

The landlord assured my master that at this time 
slaves were much in demand, both in Columbia and 
Augusta ; that purchasers were numerous and prices 
good ; and that the best 2~>lan of effecting good sales 
would be to put up each nigger separately, at auction, 
after giving a few days' notice, by an advertisement, 
in the neighboring country. Cotton, he said, had not 
been higher for many years, and as a great many per- 
sons, especially young men, were moving off to the 
new purchase in Georgia, prime hands w^ere in high 
demand, for the jmrpose of clearing the land in the 
new country — that the boys and girls, under twenty, 
would bring almost any price at present, in Columbia 
for the purpose of picking the growing crop of cotton, 



46 Fifty Years in Chains; or, 

which promised to be very heavy ; and as most per- 
sons had planted more than their hands would be able 
to pick^ young niggers, who would soon learn to pick 
cotton, were prime articles in the market. As to 
those more advanced in life, he seemed to think the 
prospect of selling them at an unusual price, not so 
good, as they could not so readily become expert cot- 
ton-pickers — he said further, that for some cause, 
W'hich he could not comprehend, the price of rice had 
not been so good this year as usual ; and that he had 
found it cheaper to purchase rice to feed his own 
niggers than to provide them with corn, which had to 
be brought from the upper country. He therefore 
advised my master not to drive us towards the rice 
plantation of the low country. My master said he 
would follow his advice, at least so far as to sell a 
portion of us in Carolina, but seemed to be of opinion 
that his prime hands Avould bring him more money in 
Georgia, and named me, in particular, as one who 
would be w^orth, at least, a thousand dollars, to a 
man wdio was about making a settlement, and clearing 
a plantation in the new purchase. I therefore con- 
cluded, that in the course of events, I was likely to 
become tlie property of a Georgian, wdiich turned out 
in the end to be the case, though not so soon as I at 
this time apprehended. I slept but little this night, 
feeling a restlessness whei^ no longer in chains ; and 



The Life of an American Slave. 47 



pondering over the future lot of my life, wlricli appear- 
ed fraught only ^vith evil and misfortune. Day at 
length dawned, and with its first light we were ordered 
to betake ourselves to the road, which, w^e were told, 
would lead us to Columbia, the place of intended sale 
of some, if not all of us. For several days past, I had 
observed that in the country through w^hich we travel- 
ed, little attention was paid to the cultivation of any- 
thing but cotton. Now this plant was almost the sole 
possessor of the fields. It covered the plantations 
adjacent to the road, as far as I could see, both before 
and behind me, and looked not unlike buckwheat be- 
fore it blossoms. I saw some small fields of corn, and 
lots of sweet potatoes, amongst which the young vines 
of the water-melon were frequently visible. The im- 
provements on the plantations were not good. There 
were no barns, but only stables and sheds, to put the 
cotton under, as it was brought from the field. Hay 
seemed to be unknown in the country, for I saw neither 
hay-stacks nor meadows ; and the few fields that were 
lying fallow, had but small numbers of cattle in them, 
and these were thin and meagre. We had met with 
no flocks of sheep of late, and the hogs that we saw 
on the road-side were in bad condition. The horses 
and mules that I saw in the cotton-fields, were poor 
and badly harnessed, and the half-naked condition of 
the negroes, who drove them, or followed with th« 



48 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



hoc, together with their wan complexions, proved to 
me that they had too much work, or not enough food. 
We passed a cotton-gin this morning, the first that I 
ever saw ; hut they were not at work with it. We 
also met a party of ladies and gentlemen on a journey 
of pleasure, riding in two very handsome carriages, 
drawn by sleek and spirited horses, very different in 
appearance from the moving skeletons that I had 
noticed drawing the ploughs in the fields. The black 
drivers of the coaches were neatly clad in gay-colored 
clothes, and contrasted well with their half-naked bre- 
thren, a gang of whom were hoeing cotton by the road- 
side, near them, attended by an overseer in a white 
linen shirt and pantaloons, with one of the long 
negro whips in his hand. 

I observed that these poor j)eoj)le did not raise their 
iieads, to look at either the fine coaches and horses 
then passing, or at us ; but kept their faces steadily 
bent towards the cotton-23lants, from among which 
they were removing the weeds. I almost shuddered 
at the sight, knowing that I myself was doomed to a 
state of servitude equally cruel and debasing, unless, 
by some unforeseen occurrence, I might fall into the 
hands of a master ^f less inhumanity of temper than 
the one who had possession of the miserable creatures 
before me. 



TJi-c Life of an Americcui Slave. 49 



CHAPTER III 



It was manifest that I was now in a country where 
the life of a black man was no more regarded than 
that of an ox, except as far as the man was worth the 
more money in the market. On all the plantations* 
that we passed, there was a want of live stock of ever}^ 
description, except slaves, and they were deplorably 
abundant. 

The fields were destitute of everything that de- 
served the name of grass, and not a spear of clover 
was anywhere visible. The few cattle that existed, 
were browsing on the boughs of the trees, in the woods. 
Everything betrayed a scarcity of the means of sup- 
plying the slaves, who cultivated the vast cotton- 
fields, with a sufficiency of food. We traveled this 
day more than thirty miles, and crossed the Catawba 
river in the afternoon, on the bottoms of which I saw, 
for the first time, fields of rice, grooving in swamps, 
covered with water. Causeways were raised through 

the low-lap. ds in which the rice g^ew, and on these, 

3 



50 Fifty Years in CTiains ; or, 

the road was formed on wliicli we traveled. These 
rice-fieldS; or rather swamps, had, in my eyes, a beau- 
tiful appearance. The lice was nearly two feet in 
height above the water, and of a vivid green color, 
covering a large space, of at least a hundred acres. 
Had it not been for the water, which appeared stag- 
nant and sickly, and swarmed with frogs and thou- 
sands of snakes, it w^ould have been as fine a sight as 
one need wish to look upon. After leaving the low 
grounds along the river, we again entered plantations 
of cotton, which lined the roads on both sides, relieved, 
here and there, by corn-fields and potato-patches. 
We stopped for the night at a small tavern, and our 
master said we were within a day's journey of Co- 
lumbia, 

We here, again, received boiled rice for supper, 
without salt, or any kind of seasoning ; a pint was 
allotted to each person, which we greedily devoured, 
having had no dinner to-day, save an allowance of 
corn-cakes, with the fat of about five pounds of bacon, 
extracted by frying, in which we dipped our bread. I 
slept soundly after this day's march, the fatigues of 
the body having, for once, overcome the agitations of 
the mind. The next day, which was, if my recollec- 
tion is accurate, the ninth of June, was the last of our 
journey before our company separated ; and we were 
on the road betore the stars had disappeared from the 



The Life of an American Slave. 51 

sky. Our breakfast, this morning, consisted of bacon 
soup, a dish composed of corn-meal, boiled in water, 
with a small piece of bacon to give the soup a taste 
of meat. For dinner we had boiled Indian peas, with 
a small allowance of bacon. This was the iirsjt time 
that we had received two rations of meat in the same 
day, on the whole journey, and some of our party 
were much surprised at the kindness of our master ; 
but I had no doubt that his object was to make us 
look fat and hearty, to enable him to obtain bettei 
prices for us at Columbia. 

At supper this night, we had corn mush, in large 
wooden trays, with melted lard to dip the mush in 
before eating it. We might have reached Columbia 
this day if we had continued our march, but we stop- 
ped, at least an hour before sun- set, about three miles 
from town, at the house of a man who supported the 
double character of planter and keeper of a house of 
entertainment ; for I learned from his slaves that 
their master considered it disrej)utable to be called a 
tavern-keeper, and would not -put up a sign, although 
he received pay of such persons as lodged with him. 
His house was a frame building, weather-boarded with 
pine boards, but had no plastering within. The fur- 
niture corresponded with the house which contained 
it, and was both scanty and mean, consisting of pine 
tables and wooden chairs, with bottoms made of corn- 



52 Fiftij Years in Chains ; or, 



husks. The house was only one story high, and all 
the rooms, six or seven in number, parlor, bed-rooms, 
and kitchen, were on the first floor. As the weather 
was warm and the windows open, I had an opportu- 
nity of looking into the sleeping rooms of the family, 
as I walked round the house, which I was permitted 
freely to do. The beds and their furniture answered 
well to the chairs and tables ; yet in the large front 
room I observed on an old fashioned side-board, a 
great quantity of glass-ware, of various descriptions, 
v^atli two or three dozen silver spoons, a silver tea-urn, 
and several knives and forks with silver handles. In 
the corner of this room stood a bed with gaudy red 
curtains, with figures of lions, elephants, naked ne- 
groes, and other representations of African scenery. 

The master of the house was not at home when we 
arrived, but came in from the field shortly afterwards. 
He met my master with the cordiality of an old friend, 
though he had never seen him before ; said he was 
hapi)y to see him at his house, and that the greatest 
pleasure he enjoyed was derived from the entertain- 
ment of such gentlemen as thought proper to visit 
his house ; that he was always glad to see strangers, 
and more especially gentlemen who were adding so 
much to the wealth and population of Carolina, as 
those merchants who imported servants from the 
K orlh. He then observed that he had never seen a 



I 



Tlie Life of cm Americaii Slave. 53 

finer lot of property pass his house than we were, and 
that any c-entleman who brouirht such a stock oi hands 
into the conntry was a public benefactor, and entitled 
to the respect and gratitude of every friend of the 
South. He assured my master that he was happy to 
see him at his house, and that if he thought proper to 
remain a few days with him, it would be his chief 
business to introduce him to the gentlemen of the 
neighborhood, who would all be glad to become ac- 
quainted with a merchant of his respectability. In 
the State of Maryland, my master had been called a 
ncrjro hvycr, or Georgia trader, sometimes a 7iegro 
driver; but here, I found that he was elevated to the 
rank of merchant, and a merchant of the first order 
too ; for it was very clear that in the opinion of the 
landlord, no branch of trade was more honorable than 
the traflic in us poor slaves. Our master observed 
that he had a mind to remain here a short time, and 
try what kind of market Columbia would present, for 
the sale of his lot of servants ; and that he would 
make his house his home, until he had ascertained 
what could be done in tovrn, and what demand ihcic 
was in the neighborhood for servants. We were not 
called slaves by these men, who talked of selling us, 
and of the price we would bring, v>dth as little com- 
punction of conscience as they would have talked of 
the sale of so many mules. 



54 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

It is the custom tlirougliout all tlie slave-holding 
States, amongst people of fashion^ never to speak of 
their negroes as slaves, but always as servants ; but 
I had never before met with the keeper of a public 
house, in the country, who had arrived at this degree 
of refinement. I had been accustomed to hear this 
order of men, and indeed the greater number of white 
people speak of the peoj)le of color as niggers. 

We remained at this j^lace more than two weeks ; 
I presume because my master found it cheaper to keep 
us here than in town, or perhaps, because he supposed 
w^e might recover from the hardships of our journey 
more siDcedily in the country. 

As it w-as here that my real acquaintance with 
South Carolina commenced, I have noted with more 
particularity the incidents that occurred, than I other- 
wise should have done. This family was composed 
of the husband, wife, three daughters, all young wo- 
men, and two sons, one of whom apjDcared to be about 
twenty, and the other, perhaps seventeen years old. 
They had nine slaves in all, one very old man, quite 
crooked with years and labor — two men of middle age 
— one lad, perhaps sixteen — one woman with three 
children, the oldest about seven, — and a young girl 
of twelve or fourteen. The farm, or plantation, they 
lived on, contained about one hundred and fifty 
acres of cleared land, sandy, and the greater part of 



The Life of an American Slave. 55 

it poor, ;is was proved Ly tlie stintrd growth of tlie 
cotton. 

At the time of our arrival at this house, I saw no 
persons about it, except the four Lidies — the mother 
and lier three daugliters — the husband being in the 
field, as noticed above. According to the orders of 
my master, I had taken the saddle from his horse and 
])iit him in a stable ; and it was not until after the 
first salutations of the new landlord to my master 
were over, that he seemed to think of asking him 
whether he had come on foot, on horse-back, or in a 
coach. He at length, however, turned suddenly and 
ask«.*d him, witli an air of suq^rise, wliere lie had left 
his horses and carriage. My master said he had no 
carriage, that he traveled on horse-back, and that his 
horse was in the stable. The landlord then apolo- 
gized for the trouble he must have had, in having his 
horse put away himself ; and said that at this season 
of the year, the planters were so hurried by their crops, 
and found so much difficulty in keeping down the 
grass, that they were generally obliged to keep all 
their serv^ants in the field ; that for his part, he had 
been compelled to put his coachman, and even the 
waiting-maids of his daughters into the cotton-fields, 
and that at this time, his family were without servants, 
a circumstance that had never happened before ! 
'• For my part/' said he, "I have always prided my- 



56 'F'fiy Years in Chains ; or, 



self on bringing up my family well, and can say, that 
altliougli I do not live in so fine a lionse as some of 
the other planters of Carolina, yet my children are as 
great ladies and gentlemen as any in the state. Not 
one of chem has ever had to do a day's work yet, and 
as long as I live, never shall. I sent two of my daugh- 
ters to Charleston last summer, and they were there 
three months ; and I intend to send the youngest there 
this summer. They have all learned to dance here in 
Columbia, where I sent them two quarters to a French- 
man, and he made me pay pretty well for it. They 
went to the same dancing school with the daughters 
of Wade Hampton and Colonel Fitzhugh. I am de- 
termined that they shall never marry any but gentle- 
men of the first character, and I know they will always 
follow my advice in matters of this kind. They are 
prudent and sensible girls, and are not going to do as 
Major Pollack's daughter did this spring, vrho ran away 
with a Georgia cracker, who brought a drove of cattle 
for sale from the Indian country, and who had not a 
nigger in the world. He staid with me sometime, 
and wished to have something to say to my second 
daughter, but the thing would not do." 
• Here he stopped short in his narrative, and seeming 
to muse a moment, said to his guest, " I presume, as 
you travel alone, you have no family." " No," re- 
plied my master, " I am a single man." " I thought 



TJic Life of an American Slave. 57 

f?o l)y your appearance," said the loquacious landlonl, 
■ Mil I sliall be glad to introduce you to my family 
this evening. My sons arc two as fine fellows as tlicre 
are in all Carolina. My oldest boy is lieutenant in 
the militia, n- "I I-i the same company that marched 
with Gen. : ih.'^ war. Ho was on the point 

of fighting J' . with young M'Corklo in 

Columbia; but ottled between them. 

You will see him t ,^^ when he returns from 

the quoit-party. A^^ .^ ^rty of young bucks meet 
once every week about two miles from this, and as I 
wish my sons to keep the best company, they both at- 
tend it. There is to be a cock-fight there this after- 
noon, and my youngest son, Edmund, has the finest 
cock in this count r)'. He is one of the true game 
blood, — the real Dominica game breed ; and I sent to 
Charleston for his gaffs. There is a bet of ten dollars 
a side between my son's cock and the one belong-in" 

" DO 

to young Blainey, the son of Major Blaincy. Young 

Blainey is a hot-headed young blood, and has been 

concerned in three duels, though I believe he never 

fought but one ; but I know Edmund will not take a 

word from him, and it will be well if he and his cock 

do not both get well licked." 

Here the conversation was arrested by -the sound of 

horses' feet on the road, and in the next instant, two 

young men rode up at a cjallop, mounted on lean look- 
"3* 



58 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



ing horses ; one of the riders carrying a pole on his 
shoulder, with a game cock in a net bag, tied to one 
end of it. On jiercciving them the landlord exclaimed 
with an oath, " There's two lads of S2)irit ! stranger — 
and if you will allow me the liberty of ashing you 
your name, I will introduce you to them." At the 
suggestion of his name, my master seemed to hesitate 
a little, but after a moment's pause, said, "They call 
me M'GifQn, sir." " My name is Huhg, sir," replied 
the landlord, " and T am very happy to be acquainted 
with you, Mr. M'Giffin," at the same time shaking him 
by the hand, and introducing his two sons, who were 
by this time at the door. 

This was the first time I had ever heard the name 
of my master, although I had been with him five 
vreeks. I had never seen him before the day on which 
he seized .-^.nd bound me in Marjdand, and as he took 
me av/ay immediately, I did not hear his name at the 
time. The people who assisted to fetter me, either 
from accident or design, omitted to name him, and 
after we commenced our journey, he had maintained 
so much distant reserve and austerity of manner to- 
vv-ards us all, that no one ventured to ask him his 
name. We had called him nothing but " master," 
and the various persons at whose houses we had stoj)- 
ped on our way, knew as little of his name as we did. 
We had freauenlly been a^kcd the name of our master, 



TJie Life of an American Slave. 59 



and perhaps had not always obtained credence, when 
we said we did not know it. 

Throughout the whole journey, until after w. 
released from our irons, he had forhiddeu us to c.-u- 
versc together beyond a few words in relation to our 
temporary condition and wants ; and as ho was with 
us all day, and never slept out of hearing of us at 
night, he rigidly enforced his edict of silence. I pre- 
sume that the reason of this prohibition of all conver- 
sation was to prevent us from devising phins of escape ; 
but he had imjK)scd as rigid a silence on himself 
as was enforced upon us ; and after having passed 
from Mar}land to South Carolina, in his company, I 
knew no more of my master, than, that he knew how 
to keep his secrets, guard his slaves, and make a close 
bargain. I had never heard him speak of his home or 
family ; and therefore had concluded that he was an 
unmarried man, and an adventurer, who felt no more 
attacliment for one place than another, and whose 
residence was not very well settled ; but, from the 
large sums of money which he must have been able to 
command and carry with him to the North, to enable 
him to purchase so large a number of slaves, 1 had no 
doubt that he was a man of consequence and considera- 
tion in the place from whence he came. 

In Maryland, I had always observed that men, who 
were the owners of large stocks of negroes, were not 



GO ^^fty y^^ccrs in Cliains ; or, 

averse to liaving publicity given to tlieir names ; and 
that the possession of this species of property even 
there, gave its owner more vanity and egotism, than 
fell to the lot of the holders of any other kind of 
estate ; and in truth, my subsequent experience proved 
that without the possession of slaves, no man could 
ever arrive at, or hope to rise to any honorable station 
in society ; — yet, my master seemed to take no pride 
in having at his disposal the lives of so many human 
beings. He never spoke to us in words of either pity 
or hatred ; and never spoke of us, except to order us 
to be fed or watered, as he would have directed the 
same offices to be performed for so many horses, or to 
inquire where the best prices could be obtained for us. 
He regarded us only as objects of traffic and the ma- 
terials of his commerce ; and although he had lived 
several years in Carolina and Georgia, and had there 
exercised the profession of an overseer, he regarded 
the Southern j)lanters as no less the subjects of trade 
and speculation than the slaves he sold to them ; as 
vrill appear in the sequel. It was to this man that 
the landlord introduced his two sons, and upon whom 
he was endeavoring to impose a belief, that he was 
the head of a family which took rank with those of 
the first jDlanters of the district. The ladies of the 
household, though I had seen them in the kitchen 
whpn I walked round the house, had not yet present- 



The Life of 'in American Sieve 61 

ed themselves to my master, nor ind'^ed were tliey in 
a condition to be seen anywhere hut in the apartment, 
they occupied at the time. The young gentlemen gave o 
very gasconading account of the quoit-party and cock- 
fight, from which they had just returned, and accord- 
ing to their version of the affair, it might have been 
an assemblage of at least half the military officers of 
the state ; for all the persons of whom they spoke, 
were captains, majors and colonels. The eldest said, 
he had w^on two bowls of punch at quoits ; and the 
youngest, whose cock had been victor in the battle, on 
which ten dollars were staked, vaunted much of the 
qualities of his bird ; and supported his veracity by 
numerous oaths, and reiterated appeals to his brother 
for the truth of his assertions. Both these young 
men were so much intoxicated that they with difficult} 
maintained an erect posture in walking. 

By this time the sun was going down, and I ob- 
served two female slaves, a woman and girl, approach- 
ing the house on the side of the kitchen from the cot- 
ton-field. They vrere coming home to prepare suppei 
for the family ; the ladies whom I had seen in the 
kitchen not having been there for the purpose of per- 
forming the duties 'appropriate to that station, but 
having sought it as a place of refuge from the sight of 
my master, who had approached the frolifc of their 
dwelling silently, and so suddenly as not to permit 



62 Fiftij Years in Chains ; or, 



them to gain tlio foot of the stairway in the Lirge 
front room, without being seen by him, to whose view 
they by no means wished to expose themselves before 
they had visited their toilets. About dark the supper 
was ready in the large room, and, as it had two fronts, 
one of which looked into the yard where my compan- 
ions and I had been permitted to seat ourselves, and 
had an opportunity of seeing, by the light of the can- 
dle, all that was done within, and of hearing all that 
w\as said. The ladies, four in number, had entered 
the room before the gentlemen ; and when the latter 
came in my master was introduced, by the landlord to 
his wife and daughters, by the name and title of 
CoIo7id M'Giffin, which, at that time, impressed me 
with a belief that he was really an officer, and that he 
had disclosed this circumstance without my knowledge ; 
but I afterwards perceived that in the south it is deem- 
ed respectful to address a stranger by the title of 
Colonel, or Major, or General, if his appearance will 
warrant the association of so high a rank with his name. 
My master had declared his intention of becoming the 
-inmate of this family for some time, and no pains 
seemed to be spared on their part to impress upon his 
mind the high opinion that they entertained of the 
dignity of the owner of fifty slaves ; the possession of 
so large a number of human creatures being, in Caro- 
lina, a certificate of character, which entitles its bearer 



The Life yf an American Slave. 63 



to enter whatever society he may choose to select, with- 
out any thing more being known of his birth, his life, 
or rej^utation. The man who owns fifty servants must 
needs be a gentleman amongst the higher ranks, anel 
the owner of half a hundred niggers is a sort of noble- 
man amongst the low, the ignorant, and the vulgar. 
The mother and three daughters, whose appearance, 
when I saw them in the kitchen, v/ould have warranted 
tlie conclusion that they had just risen from bed with- 
out having time to adjust their dress, w^ere now gaily, 
if not neatly attired ; and the two female slaves, who 
had come from the field at sundown to cook the sup- 
per, now waited at the table. The landlord talked 
much of his crops, his plantation and slaves, and of 
the distinguished families who exchanged visits with 
his own ; but my master took very little part in the 
conversation of the evening, and aj)peared disposed to 
maintain .the air of mystery which had hitherto invest- 
ed his character. 

After it was quite dark, the slaves came in from the 
cotton- field, and taking little notice of us, went into 
the kitchen, and each taking thence a pint of corn, 
proceeded to a little mill, which was nailed to a post 
in the yard, and there commenced the operation of 
grinding meal for their suppers, which were afterwards 
to be prepared by baking the meal into cakes at the 
fire. The woman who was the mother of the three 



64 ^ifiy Years in Chains ; or, 

small cliildren, vras permitted to grind her alloTrance of 
corn lirst^ and after lier came the old man, and the 
others in succession. After the corn was converted 
into meal, each one kneaded it up with cold water into 
a thick dough, and raking away the ashes from a small 
space on the kitchen hearth, jjlaced the dough, rolled 
u-p in green leaves, in the hollow, and covering it with 
hot embers, left it to he baked into bread, wliich was 
done in about half an hour. These loaves constituted 
the only supper of the slaves belonging to this family 
for I observed that the two women who had waited at 
the table, after the supper of the white people was dis- 
posed of, also came with their corn to the mill on the 
post and ground their allowance like the others. They 
had not been permitted to taste even the fragments of 
the meal that they had cooked for their masters and 
mistresses. It was eleven o'clock before these people 
had finished their supper of cakes, and several of them, 
especially the younger of the two lads, were so over- 
powered with toil and sleep, that they had to be roused 
from their slumbers when their cakes were done, to 
devour tliem. 

We had for our supper to-night, a pint of boiled 
rice to each person, and a small quantity of stale and 
very rancid butter, from the bottom of an old keg, or 
firkin, which contained about two pounds, the remnant 
of that which once filled it. V\^e boiled the rice our- 



The Life of -c [lucrican Slave. (d5 

selves, in a large iron kettle ; and, as our master now 
informed us that we were to remain here some time, 
many of lis determined to avail ourselves of this sea- 
son of rcsintc from our toils, to wash our clothes, and 
free our persons from the vermin which had appeared 
aniongst our party several weeks hcforc, and now be- 
gun to bo extremely tormenting. As wc were not 
allowed any soap, wc were obliged to resort to the use 
of a very fine and unctuous kind of clay, resembling 
fullers' earth, but of a yellow color, which was found 
on the margin of a small swamp near the house. This 
was the first time that I had ever heard of clay being 
used for the purjiose of washing clothes ; but I often 
availed myself of tliis resource afterwards, whilst I was 
a slave in the south. Wc wet our clothes, then rub- 
bed this clay all over the garments, and by scouring 
it out in warm water with our hands, the cloth, whether 
of woollen, or coiton, or linen texture, was entirely 
clean. We ^ ' ' ^. our persons to the same process, 
and in this Wi.; ..v. .air camp from the host of enemies 
that had been generated in the course of our journey. 
This washing consumed the whole of the first day 
of our residence on the jjlantation of Mr. Hulig. 
We all lay the first night in a shed, or summer kitchen, 
standing behind the house, and a few yards from it a 
place in which the slaves of the plantation washed 
their clothes, and passed their Sundays in warm wcath- 



66 Fifty Years hi CJia'ns ; or, 



er, when tliey did not work ; but as this place was 
quite too small to accommodate our i^arty, or indeed 
to contain us, without crowding us together in such a 
manner as to endanger our health, we were removed, 
the morning after our arrival, to an old decayed frame 
building, about one hundred yards from the house, 
which had been erected, as I learned, for a cotton-gin, 
but into which its jiossessor, for want of means I pre- 
sume, had never introduced -the machinery of the gin. 
This building was near forty feet square ; was without 
any other floor than the earth, and neither doors nor 
windows, to close the openings which had been left for 
the admission of those who entered it. We were told 
that in this place the cotton of the plantation was de- 
posited in the picking season, as it was brought from 
the field, until it could be removed to a nei2:hborin2: 
plantation, where there was a gin to divest it of its 
seeds. 

Here we took our temporary abode — men and wo- 
men, promiscuously. Our provisions, whilst we re- 
mained here, w^ere regularly distributed to us ; and 
our daily allowance to each person, consisted of a pint 
of corn, a pint of rice, and about three or four pounds 
of butter, such as we had received on the night of our 
arrival, divided amongst us, in small pieces from the 
point of a table knife. The rice we boiled in the iron 
kettle — we ground our corn at the little mill on the 



TIlc Life of an American Slave, 67 



post in the kitchen, and converted the meal into bread, 
in I;: ■ 1.; inner we liad been accustomed to at home — 
sometimes on the hearth, and sometimes before the fire 
on a ho#. The butter was given us as an extraordi- 
nary ration, to stro' "^ ■ -nd recmit us after our long 
marrh, nnd rrivc •: iihy and cxin rl appearance 

a our future sale. 

We had no beds of any kind to sleep on, but cacli 
one was provided with a blanket, which had been the 
companion of our travels. We were left entirely at 
liberty to ^^ ott! or in when we pleased, and no w-.iirh 
was kept < ither by night or day. 

Our master had removed us so far from our native 
country, that he supposed it impossible for any of us 
ever to escape from him, and surmount all the obstacles 
that lay between us and our former homes. lie went 
away immediately after we were established in ourncw 
lodgings, and remained absent until the second even- 
ing about sundown, when he returned, came into our 
shed, sat down on a block of wood in the midst of us, 
and asked if any one had been sick ; if we had got our 
clothes clean ; and if we had been supplied with an 
allowance of rice, com and butter. After satisfying 
himself upon these points, he told us that we were 
now at liberty to run away if we chose to do so ; but 
if we made the attempt we should most certainly be 
ro-taken, and subjected to the most terrible punish- 



68 Fifty Years id CliU.ins ; or, 

ment. " I never flog," said he, " my practice is to 
cat-haul; and if yon nm away, and I catcli you 
again — as I surely shall do — and give you one cat- 
hauling, you -will never run away again, nor-attemjot 
it." I did not then understand the import of cat- 
hauling, hut in after times, became well acquainted 
with its signification. 

We rem.avned in this place nearly two weeks, during 
which timr> our allowance of food was not varied, and 
was regularly given to us. We were not required to 
do any t^ ork ; and I had liberty and leisure to walk 
about the plantation, and make such observations as I 
could upon the new state of things around me. Gen- 
tlemen and ladies came eveiy day to look at us, with 
a view of becoming our purchasers ; and we were ex- 
amined with minute care as to our ages, former occupa- 
tions, and capacity of performing labor. Our persons 
were inspected, and more especially the hands were 
scrutinized, to see if all the fingers were perfect, and 
capable of the quick motions necessary in j^icking cot- 
ton. Our master only visited us once a day, and 
sometimes he remained absent two days ; so that he 
seldom met any of those who came to see us ; but, 
whenever it so happened that he did meet them, he 
laid aside his silence and became very talkative, and 
even animated in his conversation, extolling our good 
qualities, and averring tha+ he had purchased some of 



The L\jc of an American SUivc. 69 



as of one ooloncl, and others of another general in 
Virginia ; that he could by no means have procured us, 
had it not been that, in some instances, our masters 
had ruined themselves, and were obliged to sell us to 
save their families from ruin ; and in others, that our 
owners were dead, their estates deeply in debt, and we 
ly.A 1. „ .11 o4 ..Tiblic sale ; by which means ho had 
b. ^ Tus. lie said our habits were unex- 

ceptionable, our characters good; that there was not ono 
among us all who had ever been lalo^vn to run away, 
or steal any thing from our former masters. I obsen'cd 
that running away, and stealing from his master, wero 
regarded as the highest crimes of which a slave could 
be guilty ; but I heard no questions asked concerning 
our propensity to steal from other people besides our 
masters, and I afterwards learned, that this was not 
always regarded as a very high crime by the owner of 
a slave, provided he would perpetrate the theft so 
adroitly as not to be detected in it. 

We were severally asked by our visitors, if we would 
be willing to live with them, if they would purchase 
us, to which we generally replied in the affirmative ; 
but our owner declined all the offers that were made 
for us, upon the ground that we were too pooi 
— looked too bad to be sold at present — and that in 
our condition he could not expect to get a fair value 
for us. 



70 Fifty Years in Chains ; or^ 

One evening, when our master was with us, a thin, 
sallow-looking man rode up to the house, and alight- 
ing from his horse, came to us, and told him that he 
had come to buy a hoy ; that he wished to get a good 
field hand, and would j^ay a good price for him. I 
never saw a human countenance that expressed more 
of the evil passions of the heart than did that of this 
man, and his conversation corresponded with his phy- 
siognomy. Every sentence of his language was ac- 
companied with an oath of the most vulgar profanity, 
and his eyes aj)peared to me to be the index of a soul 
as cruel as his visage was disgusting and repulsive. 

xifter looking at us for some time, this wretch sin- 
gled me out as the object of his choice, and coming 
up to me, asked me how I would like him for a master. 
In my heart I detested him ; but a slave is often 
afraid to speak the truth, and divulge all he feels ; so 
vrith myself in this instance, as it was doubtful whether 
I might not fall into his hands, and be subject to the 
violence of his temper, I told him that if he was a 
good master, as every gentleman ought to be, I should 
be willing to live with him. He ajDpeared satisfied 
with my answer, and turning to my master, said he 
would give a high price for me. " I can," said he, 
"by going to Charleston, buy as many Guinea negroes 
as I please for two hundred dollars each, but as I like 
this fellow, I will give you four hundred for him.'' 



The Life of an Amcrunn Slave. 7] 



This offer stiuck terror into my heart, for 1 knew it 
was as much as was generally given for the best and 
ablest slaves, and I expected that it would imme- 
diately be accepted as my price, and that I should lie 
at once consigned to the hands of this man, of whom 
1 had formed so abhorrent an opinion. To my sur- 
prise and satisfiiction, however, my master made no 
reply to the proposition ; but stood for a moment, with 
one hand raised to his liice and his fore-finger on his 
nose, and then turning suddenly to me, said, " Go into 
the house ; I shall not sell you to-day." It was my 
business to obey the order of departure, and as I went 
beyond the sound- of their voices, I could not under- 
stand the imrport of the conversation which followed 
between these two traffickers in human blood ; but 
after a parley of about a quarter of an hour, the 
hated stranger started abruptly away, and going to 
tlie road, mounted his horse, and rode off at a gallop, 
banishing himself and my fears together. 

I did not see my master again this evening, and 
when I came out of our barracks in the morning, al- 
though it was scarcely daylight, I saw him standing 
near one corner of the building, with his head inclined 
towards the wall, evidently listening to catch any 
sounds within. Ee ordered me to go and feed his 
horse, and have him saddled for him by sunrise. 
About an hour afterwards he came to the stable in his 



'y 



Years in CJiohis : or. 



riding dress ; and told me that lie should remove u? 
all to Colmnbia in a few davs. He then rode away, 
and did not return nntil the third day afterwards. 



The Life of an American Slave. 73 



ClIAPTKU IV. 



It was now ab'.'iu uuj niii'i'- "i 'iui."-. ihc weather 
excessively warm, and from eleven o'clock, A. ^L, un- 
til late in the afternoon, the sand about our residence 
was 80 hot that we could not stand on it with our 
bare feet in one posture, more than one or two min- 
utes. .The whole country, so far as I could sec, a])- 
pcared to be a dead plain, without the least variety of 
either hill or dale. The pine was so far the predomi- 
nating timber of the forest, that at a little distance 
the entire woods appeared to be composed of this tree. 

I had become weary of being confmed to the imme- 
diate vicinity of our lodgings, and determined to ven- 
ture out into the fields of the jdantation, and see the 
Uianner of cultivating cotton. Accordingly, after I 
had made my morning meal upon corn cakes, I sallied 
out in the direction which I had seen the slaves of the 
plantation take at the tiii:c they left the house at day- 
light, and following a p-ati) i^.irough a smaU field of 
r..rii. wliich was so tall as tn prevent me from seoinp 



Ti Fifiy Years in Chains ; or. 



beyond it^ I soon arrived at the field in wliicL tlie i^eo- 
ple ^vere at vv'ork T\'ith lioes amongst the cotton, which 
was about two feet and a half high, and had formed 
such long branches, that they could no longer jdough 
in it without breaking it. Expecting to pass the re- 
mainder of my life in this kind of labor, I felt anxious 
to know the evils, if any, attending it, and more espe- 
cially the manner in which the slaves were treated on 
the cotton tBstates. 

The people now before me, were all diligently and 
laboriously weeding and hilling the cotton with hoes, 
and when I approached them, they scarcely took time 
to speak to me, but continued their labor as if I had 
Qot been present. As there did not appear to be any 
OYcrseer with them, I thought I would go amongst 
them, and enter into conversation with them ; but 
upon addressing myself to one of the men, and telling 
him, if it Avas not disagreeable to him, I should be 
glad to become acquainted with him, he said he should 
be glad to be acquainted with me, but master Tom 
did not allow him to talk much to peo2)le when he 
was at work. I asked him where his master Tom 
was ; but before he had time to re])ly, same one call- 
ed — " Mind your work there, you rascals." Looking 
in the direction of the sound, I saw master Tom, sit- 
ting imder the shade of a sassafras tree, at the dis- 
tance of about a hundred yards from us. Deeming it 



The Life o/' fin American Slave. 75 



unsafe to continue in the field without the penuission 
of its lord, I approached the sassafras tree, with my 
hat in my hand, and in a very hunihle nvinner, asked 
leave to help the people work awliile, as I was tiivd 
of staying about the house and doing nothing. lie 
paid he did not care ; I might go and work with thorn 
awhile, hut I must take care not to talk too much and 
keep his hands from their work. 

Now, having authority on my side, I rctunu d, and 
taking a Imr from the hands of a small girl, told hci 
to pull up weeds, and I would take her row fur her. 
When we arrived at the end of the rows which we 
were then hilling, master Tom, who still held his post 
under the sassafras tree, called his people to come to 
breaktast. Although I had already broken my fast, I 
went with the rest for the purpose of seeing what theii 
l)reakfast was composed of At the tree I saw a keg 
which contained about five gallons, with water in it, 
and a gourd lying by it ; near this was a basket made 
of si>lits, large enough to hold more than a peck. It 
contained the breakfast of the people, covered by some 
frreen leaves of the magnolia, or great bay tree of the 
South. When the leaves were removed, I found that 
the supply of provisions consisted of one cake of corn- 
meal, weighing about half a pound, for each person. 
This bread had no sort of seasoning, not even salt, and 
constitut. 1 <1^'^ "I'lv LivulcOi^f nf these poor people, 



YO F^fiy ^'crtrs in Clicdns ; or, 



who had been toiling from early clawn until about 
eio-ht o'clock. There was no cake for me. and master 
Tom did not say anything to me on the state of my 
stomach ; but the young girl, whose hoe I had taken 
in the field, offered me a part of her cake, which I 
refused. After the breakfast was despatched, we again 
returned to our work ; but the master ordered the 
gh'l, whose hoc I had, to go and get anotlier hoe which 
lay at some distance in the field, and take her row 
ao-ain. I continued in the field until dinner, which 
took place about one o'clock, and was the same, in all 
respects, as the breakfast had been. 

Master Tom was the younger of the two brothers 
who returned from the cock-fight on tlic evening of 
our arrival at this place,— he left the field about ten 
o'clock, and w\as succeeded by his elder brother, as 
overseer for the remainder of the da}'. After this 
change of superintendents, my companions became 
more loquacious, and in the course of an hour or two, 
I had betiome familiar with the condition of my fel- 
low-la^ zfrs, who told me that the elde: of their 
young •' .asters was much less tyrannical than his 
vc JJ i-.£ brother ; and that whilst the former remain- 
ed 'i the field they would beat liberty to* talk as 
much as they pleased, provided they did not neglect 
,heir work. One of the men who appeared to be about 
ortv years of age, nnd wlio was the foreir.an of \h<^ 



TliC I. Jmcricmi S!a 



vc. 



field, told me that he had been bora in South Caro- 
lina, and had always lived there, though he had only 
to his present master about ten years. I 
1 iiiin if ' ■ llowed him no meat, nor any 

ix.;. I of provi . .. - ..V ^ I bread ; to which he roplied 
that they never had any meat except at Christmas, 
when each hand on the place received about three 
pounds of pork ; that from September, when the sweet 
I ■ ' the maturity of their growth, tlicy 

i... ..- of potatoes as long as the crop htkl 

out, which was gen'*mlly until about March ; but that 
for the rest of tl ;liey had nothing but a peck 

<»f com ^ week, with such weeds and other vegetables 
as they could gather from the fields for greens — that 
their master did not allow them any salt, and that tho 
only means they had of procuring this luxury, was, 
by working on Sund; leighboring planters, 

who paid them in money at the rate of fifty cents per 
day, with which they purchased salt and some other 
articles of convenience. 

This man told me that his master furnished him 
with two shirts of tow linen, and two pair of trowsers, 
one of woollen and the other of linen cloth, one woollen 
jacket, and one blanket evciy year. That ln^ re- 
ceived the woollen clothes at Christmas, and the linen 
at Easter ; and all the other clothes, if he had any, 
he was obliged to jrovide for himself by working on 



Flfbj Years in Chains; or, 



Sunday. He said, lliat for several years past, he had 
not been aide to provide any clothes for himself ; as 
he had a wife with several small children, on an ad- 
joining plantation, whose master gave only one suit 
of clothes in the year to the mother, and none of any 
kind to the children, which had compelled him to lay 
out all his savings in providing clothes for his fiimily, 
and such little necessaries as were called for by his 
wife from time to time. He had not had a shoe on 
his foot for several years, but in winter made a kind 
of moccasin for himself of the bark of a tree, which he 
said was abundant in the swamps, and could be so 
manuflictured as to make good ropes, and tolerable 
moccasins, sufficient at least to defend the feet from 
the frost, though not to keep them dry. 

The old man whom I have alluded to before, was 
in the field with the others, though he was not able 
to keep up with his row. He had no clothes on him 
except the remains of an old shirt, which hung in tat- 
ters from his neck and arms ; the two young girls 
had nothing on them but petticoats, made of coarse 
tow-cloth, and the woman, who was the mother of 
the children, wore the remains of a tow-linen shift, 
the front part of which was entirely gone ; but a 
piece of old cotton bagging tied round her loins, served 
the purposes of an apron The younger of the two 
hoys was entirely naked 



I 



The Lift: of an American Slave. 79 



The man who was foreman of the fioUl, was a person 
..f good 8cn»e for the condition of life in which fortune 
had placed him, and spoke to mc freely of his h;inl 
h.t. I observe<l that under his shirt, which was very 
rat'^jod, he wore a piece of fine linen cloth, apparently 
J irt of an old shirt, wrapped closely round his back, 
and confined in front by strings, tied dnwn his breast. 
I asked him why he wore that piece of gentleman's 
linen under his shirt, and shall give his reply in his 
own words as well as I can recollect them, at a dis- 
tinco of near thirty years. 

" I have always been a hard working man, and have 
suffered a great deal from hunger in my time. It is 
not possible for a man to work hard every day for 
several months, and get nothing but a ])eck of corn a 
week to cat, and not feel hungry. Wli. n ;i mm is 
hungry, you know, (if you have ever been hungry,) he 
must eat whatever he can get. I have not tasted 
meat since last Christmas, and we have had to work 
unconunonly haRl this summer. Master has a flock 
of sheep, that nm in the woods, and they come every 
night to sleep in the lane near the house. Two weeks 
ago last Saturday, when we quit work at night, I was 
verv hungn-, and as we went to the houj^e we i)iissed 
along the lane where the sheep lay. There were 
nearly fifty of them, and some were very fat. The 
temptation was more than I could boar. I caught 



80 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 

one of them, cut its head off with the hoe that I car- 
ried on my shouklei'; and threw it under the fence. 
A-bout midnight, when all was still about the house, 
[ went out with a knife, took the sheep into the woods, 
ind dressed it by the light of the moon. The carcass 
[ took home, and after cutting it up, placed it in the 
^reat kettle over a good fire, intendino: to boil it and 
divide it, when cooked, between my fellow- slaves 
(whom I knew to be as hungry as I was) and myself. 
Unfortunately for me, master Tom, who had been out 
amongst his friends that day, had not returned at bed- 
time ; and about one o'clock in the morniag, at the 
time when I had a blazing fire under the kettle, I 
heard the sound of the feet of a horse coming along 
the lane. The kitchen walls were open so that the 
light of my fire could not be concealed, and in a mo- 
ment I heard the horse blowing at the front of the 
house. Conscious of my danger, I stripped my shirt 
from my back, and |)ushed it into the boiling kettle, 
so as wholly to conceal the flesh of the sheep. I had 
scarcely completed this act of precaution, when mastei 
Tom burst into the kitchen, and with a terrible oath, 
asked me what I was doing so late at right, with a 
great fire in the kitchen. I replied, ^I am going to 
wash my shirt, master, and am boiling it to get it 
clean.' 'Washing your shirt at this time of niglit !' 
said he, ' I will let you know that you are not to sit 



TIlc Life of an American Slave. 81 



lip all night and be lazy and good for nothing all day. 
There shall be no boiling of shirts here on Sunday 
morning/ and thrusting his cane into the kettle, he 
riised my shirt out and threw it on the kitchen floor. 
" lie did not at first observe the mutton, which rose 
U^ the surface of the water as soon as the shirt was 
removed ; but, after giving the shirt a kick towards 
tlu' dnr,r, ho n-nin turned his face to the fire, and scc- 
j . , ^ •:■■'•:' several inches out of the pot, he 
,; what I had in there and where I had 

got this me. Ung that I was detected, and 

that the whole iu.-Uer must be discovered, I said,-- 
' Master, I am hungry, and am cooking my supper/ 
' What is it you have in here ?' ' A sheep,' said I, and 
as the words were uttered, he knocked me down with 
his cane, and after beating me severely, ordered me to 
cross my hands until he bound mo fast with a rope 
that hung in the kitchen, and answered the double 
purpose olr a clothes line and a cord to tie us with 
when we were to be whipped. He put out the fire 
under the kettle, drew me into the yard, tied me fast 
to the mill-post, and leaving me there for the night, 
went and called one of the negro boys to put his horse 
in the stiible, and went to his bed. The cord was 
bound so tightly round my wrists, that before morn- 
ing the blood had burst out under my fmger nails ; 
but I suppose my master slept soundly for all that. 



82 Fifty Years in Chains ; :r, 

I was afraid to call any one to come and release me 
from my torment, lest a still more terrible loiinisli- 
ment migiit overtake me. 

'^ I was permitted to remain in this situation imtil 
long after sunrise tlie next morning, wliicli being Sun- 
day, was quiet and still ; my fellow-slaves being per- 
mitted to take tlieir rest after the severe toil of tlie 
past week, and my old master and two young ones 
having no occasion to rise to call the hands to the 
field, did not think of interrupting their morning 
slumbers, to release me from my painful confinement. 
However, when the sun was risen about an hour, I 
heard the noise of persons moving in the great house, 
and soon after a loud and boisterous conversation, 
which I well knew portended no good to me. At 
length they all three came into the yard where I lay 
lashed to the post, and approaching me, my old mas- 
ter asked me if I had any accomplices in stealing the 
sheep. I told them none — that it was entirely my 
own act — and that none of my fellow-slaves had any 
hand in it. This was the truth ; but if any of my 
companions had been concerned with me, I should 
not have betrayed them ; for such an act of treachery 
could not have alleviated the dreadful punishment 
which I knew awaited me, and would only have in- 
volved them in the same misery. 

^' They called me a thief, loaded me with oaths and 



Tlie Life c/ an American Slave. 83 

imprecations, and eacn one proposed the pnnisliment 
which he deemed the most appropriate to the enor- 
mity of the crime that I had committed. Master 
Tom was of opinion, that I should he hxshcd to the 
post at the foot of which I hiv, and that each of my 
fellow-slaves should be compelled to give me a dozen 
lashes in turn, with a roasted and greased hickory 
gadj until I had received, in the whole, two hundred 
and fifty lashes on my hare hack, ar.d that he would 
stand hy, with the whip in his hand, and comijel 
them not to spare me ; hut after a short debate this 
was given up, as it would probably render me un- 
able to work in the field a^-ain for several weeks. 
My master Ned was in f ivor of giving me a dozen 
lashes every morning for a month, with the whip ; but 
my old master said, this would be attended with too 
much trouble, and besides, it would keep me from my 
work, at least half an hour every morning, and propos- 
ed, in his turn, that I should not be whipjied at all, 
but that the carcass of the sheep should be taken from 
the kettle in its half-builed condition, and hung m^ in 
the kitchen loft without salt ; and that I should be 
compelled to subsist on this putrid mutton without 
any other food, until it should be consumed. This 
suggestion met the approbation of my young masters, 
and would have been adopted, had not mistress at this 
moment come into the yard, and hearing the intended"' 



84 Fifty Years in Chains ; r, 



punishment, loudly objected to it, because the mutton 
would, in a day or two, create such an offensive stench, 
that she and my young mistresses would not be able 
to remain in the house. ^ My mistress swore dreadfully, 
and cursed me for an ungrateful sheep thief, who, after 
all her kindness in giving me soup and warm bread 
when I was sick last winter, was always stealing every 
thing I could get hold of. She then said to my mas- 
ter, that such villany ought not to be passed over in a 
slight manner, and that as crimes, such as this, con- 
cerned the whole country, my punishment ought to be 
public for the purpose of example ; and advised him 
to have me whipped that same afternoon, at ^yh 
o'clock ; first giving notice to the neighborhood to 
come and see the spectacle, and to bring with them 
their slaves, that they might be witnesses to the con- 
sequences of stealing sheep. 

" They then returned to the house to breakflxst ; 
but as the pain in my hands and arms produced by 
the ligatures of the cord with which I was bound, was 
greater than I could bear, I now felt exceedingly sick, 
and lost all knowledge of my situation. They told 
me I fainted ; and when I recovered my faculties, I 
found myself lying in the shade of the house, with my 
hands free, and all the white persons in my master's 
family standing around me. As soon as I was able to 
stand, the rope was tied round my neck, and -the other 



The Life of an American Slave. 85 

:% 

end again fastened to the mill post. M}Mnistress said 
I had only pretended to faint ; and master Tom said, 
I would have something: worth faintini^: for before 
night. He was faithful to his promise ; but, for the 
present, I was suffered to sit on the grass in the shade 
of llic house. 

*• As soon as breakfast was ov(>r, my two young 
masters had their horses saddled, and set out to give 
notice to their friends of what had happened, and to 
invite them to come and see me punished for the crime 
I had committed. 3Iy mistress gave me no breakfast, 
\v.\A when I begged one of the black boys whom I saw 
looking at me through the pales, to bring me some 
water in a gourd to drink, she ordered him to bring it 
from a puddle in the lane. My mistress has always 
been very cruel to all her black people. 

" I remained in this situation until about eleven 
o'clock, when one of my young mistresses came to mo 
and gave me a piece of jonny-cake about the size of 
my hand, periiaps larger than my hand, telling me at 
the same time, that my fellow-slaves had been permit- 
,ted to re-boil the mutton that I had left in the kettle, 
and -make their breakfast of it, but that her mother 
would not allow her to give me any part of it. It was 
well for them that I had parboiled it with my shirt, 
and so defiled it that it was unfit for the table of my 
master, othcrwi^", no port 'on of it would have fallen 



86 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 

to the black people — as it was, they had as much meat 
as they could consume in two days, for which I had to 
suffer. 

"About twelve o'clock, one of my young masters 
returned, and soon afterwards the other came home. 
I heard them tell my old master that they had been 
round to give notice of my offence to the neighboring 
planters, and that several of them would attend to see 
me flogged, and would bring with them some of their 
slaves, who might be able to report to their compan- 
ions what had been done to me for stealing. 

" It was late in the afternoon before any of the gen- 
tlemen came ; but, before five o'clock, there were more 
than twenty wliite people, and at least fifty black 
ones present, the latter of whom had been compelled, 
by their masters, to come and see me punished. 
Amongst others, an overseer from a neighboring estate 
'attended ; and to him was awarded the office of exe- 
cutioner. I was stri2:)ped of my shirt, and the waist- 
band of my trousers was drawn closely round me, be- 
low my hips, so as to expose the whole of my back, 
in its entire length. 

" It seems that it had been determined to beat me 
with thono's of raw cow-hide, for the overseer had two 
of these in his hands, each about four feet long ; but 
one of the gentlemen present said this might bruise my 
back so badly, that I could not work for sometime : 



The Life of an American Slave. 87 



perhaps not for a week or two ; and as I could not be 
spared from the field without disadvantage to my mas- 
ter's crop, he suggested a different plan, by which, in 
his opinion, the greatest degree of pain couM 1)0 in- 
flicted on me, witli the least danger of rendering me 
unable to work. As he was a large planter, and had 
more than fifty slaves, all were disposed to be guided 
by his counsels, and my master said he would submit 
the matter entirely to liim as a man of judgment and 
experience in such cases. He then desired my master 
to have a dozen pods of red ])e]>per boiled in half a 
«r;illnn of water, and desired the overseer to lay aside 
his thongs of raw-hide, and put a new cracker of silk, 
to the lash of his negro wliip. AVhilst these prepara- 
tions were being made, each of my tliumbs were lashed 
closely t(4the end of a stick about three feet long, and 
a chair being placed beside the mill post, I was com- 
])elled to raise my hands and place the stick, to which 
my thumbs were bound, over the top of the post, which 
is about eighteen inches square ; the chair was then 
taken from under me, and I was left hanging by the 
thumbs, with my face towards the post, and my feet 
about a foot from the ground. My two great toes 
were then tied together, and drawn down the post as 
far as my joints could be stretched ; the cord was pass- 
ed round the post two or three times and securely fas- 
tened. In this posture I had no power of motion, 



88 Fifty Years in 6liains ; or, 



except in my neck, and could only move that at tlie 
expense of beating my face against the side of the post. 
" The pepper tea was noAV brought, and poured into 
a basin to cool, and the overseer was desired to give 
me a dozen lashes just above the waist-band ; and not 
to cover a space of more than four inchef^ on my back, 
from the waist-band upwards. He obeyed the injunc- 
tion faithfully, but slowly, and each crack of the whip 
was followed by a sensation as painful as if a red hot 
iron had been drawn across my back. When the 
twelve strokes had been given, the operation was sus- 
pended, and a black man, one of the slaves present, 
was compelled to wash the gashes in my skin, with 
the scalding pepper tea, which was yet so hot that he 
could not hold his hand in it. This doubly-burning 
liquid was thrown into ray raw and bleeding wounds, 
and produced a tormenting smart, beyond the descrip- 
tion of language. After a delay of ten minutes, by 
the w^atch, I received another dozen lashes, on the 
part of my back which was immediately above the 
bleeding and burning gashes of the former whipping ; 
and again the biting, stinging, pepper tea was applied 
to my lacerated and trembling muscles. This opera- 
tion was continued at regular intervals, until I had 
received ninety-six lashes, and ray back was cut and 
scalded from end to end. Every stroke of the whip 
had drawn blood ; many of the gashes were three inches 



Tli^ . ,. J xn Ameri^ .. .^ re. 80 

1 ; ; i::y back burned as if it had been covered by a 
f hot embers, mixed witli living coals ; and I folt 
my tJesh quiver like that of animals that have been 
slaughtered by the butcher and are flayed whilst yet 
half alive. My face was bruised, and my nose bled 
]'V"i'\\' ]v. fir in th^ Tnadness of my agony, I had not 
I'M .1 I beating my head violently 

against the post. 

" Vainly did I U'g ami iiuj»li;ro tor mercy. I was 
kept l)ound to the jKist with my wludc weight hanging 
ui)on my lhuml>s, an hour and a half, 'but it aj^peand 
to mc that I had entered upon eternity, and that my 
sufferings would never end. At length, however, my 
feet were unbound, and afterwards my hands ; Init 
when released from the cords, I was so far exhausted 
as not to be able to stind, and my thumbs were stilT 
and motionless. I was carried into the kitchen, and 
laid un a bli^B|^|^herc my mistress came to sec me ; 
and after l^^^^^Bmy lacerated back, and telling me 
that my w.fli^^Pwe only skin deep, said I had come 
off w(.ll, after what I had dune, and that I ought to 
be thankful that it was not worse with me. She then 
bade me not to groan so loud, nor make so much noi-se, 
and left me to myself. I lay in this condition until it 
was quite dark, by which time the burning of my back 
had much abated, and was succeeded by an aching 
soreness, which rendered mc unable to tuin over, or 



90 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

bend my S2)ine in the slightest manner. My mistress 
again visited me^ and brought with her about half a 
pound of fat bacon, which she made one of the black 
women roast before the fire on a fork, until the oil ran 
freely from it, and then rub it Avarm over my back. 
This was repeated until I was greased from the neck 
to the hips, effectually. An old blanket was then 
thrown over me, and I was left to pass the night alone. 
Such was the terror stricken into my fellow-slaves, by 
the example made of me, that although they loved and 
pitied me, not one of them dared to approach me dur- 
ing this night. 

" My strength was gone, and I at length fell asleep, 
from which I did not awake until the horn was blown 
the next morning, to call the people to the corn crib, 
to receive their weekly allowance of a peck of corn. I 
did not rise, nor attempt to join the other people, and 
shortly afterwards my master entered the kitchen, and 
in a soft and gentle tone of voice, asked me if I was 
dead. I answered him that I was not dead, and mak- 
ing some effort, found I was able to get upon my feet. 
My master had become frightened when he missed me 
at the corn crib, and being suddenly seized with an 
apprehension that I was dead, his heart had become 
softened, not with compassion for my sufferings, but 
with the fear of losing his best field hand ; but when 
he saw me stand before him erect, and upright, the 



TJlc Life of an American Slave. 91 

recollection of the lost sheep reviwd in his ininil, aiul 
with it, all his feelings of revenge against tlu* aiitlior 
of its death. 

^*' ' So you are not dead yet, vim thieving rascal/ 
said he, and cui-sing mc with many hitter oaths, order- 
ed me to go along to the crih and get my corn, and go 
to work with the rest of the hands. I was forced to 
obey, and taking my basket of corn from the door of 
the cril), placed it in the hitch, ii h.fi, a.id went to the 
field with the other peopL . 

" Weak and exhausted as 1 was, I was com [x lied 
to do the work of an ahlehand, but was not permitted 
to taste the mutton, which was all given to the others, 
who were carefully guarded whilst they were eating, 
lest they should give mc some of it." 

This man's back was not yet well. jMany of the 
gashes made by the lash were yet sore, and those that 
were healed h|Aj|^ft long white stripes across his body. 
He had no notion of leaving the service of his tyran- 
nical master, and his spirit was so broken and sub- 
dued that he was ready to suffer and to bear all his 
hardships : not, indeed, without complaining, but 
without attempting to resist his oppressors or to es- 
cape from their power. I saw him often whilst I re- 
mained at this place, and ventured to tell him once, 
that if I had a master who would abuse me as he had 
abused him, I would nir away. " Where could I 



92 F^fty YiCivs in Chains, or, 



run, or in vrhat place could I conceal myself?'' said 
he. " I have known many slaves who ran away, but 
they were always caught and treated worse afterwards 
than they had been'before. I have heard that there 
Is a place called Philadeli^hia, where the black people 
ai-e all free, but I do not know which way it lies, nor 
wh'it road I should take to go there ; and if I knew 
the way, how could I hope to get there ? would not 
the patrol be sure to catch me ?" 

I pitied this unfortunate creature, and was at the 
same time fearful that, in a short time, I should be 
(Mjually the object of pity myself. How well my fears 
were justified the sequel of my narrative will show. 



Tic Lijr "J vii ^Lndrican Slave. 93 



CIIArTETv V. 

^^E had been stationed in Uic old cotton-gin houso 
au Alt twenty days, had recovered from the fatigues of 
oir journey, and were greatly improved in our strength 
anvl appearance, when our master returned one even- 
ing, after an ahsence of two days, and tokl us that we 
mutt go to Columbia the next day, and must, for this 
purpose, have our breakfast ready by sunrise. On the 
following morning he called us at daylight, and we 
made all despatch in preparing our morning repast, 
the last that we were to take in our present residence. 
As-oar equipments consisted of a few clothes we had 
on our persons and a solitary blanket to each indi- 
vidual, our baggage was easily adjusted, and we were 
on the road before the sun was up half an hour ; and 
in less than an hour we were in Columbia, drawn up in 
a long line in the street opposite the court-house. 

The town, which was small and mean-looking, was 
full of people, and I believe that more than a thou- 
sand tentlomen came to lork at us wltln'n the course 



94 Fifty Years in Zhalns ; or, 

of this day. We were kept in the street about an 
hour, and were then taken into the jail-yard and per- 
mitted to sit down ; but were not shut up in the jail. 
The court was sitting in Columbia at this time, and 
either this circumstance or the intelligence of our 
arrival in the country, or both, had drawn together a 
very great crowd of peo2:>le. 

We were supplied with victuals by the jailor, and 
had a small allowance of salt pork for dinner. We 
slept in the jail at night, and as none of us had been 
sold on the day of our arrival in Columbia, and we 
had not heard any of the persons who came to look at 
us make proposals to our master for our purchase, I 
supposed it might be his intention to drive us still 
farther south before he offered us for sale ; but I dis- 
covered my error on the second day, which was Tues- 
day. This day the crowd in town was much greater 
than it liad been on Monday ; and, about ten o'clock 
our master came into the yard in company with the 
jailor, and after looking at us some time, the lattei 
addressed us in a short speech, which continued per- 
haps five minutes. In this harangue he told us we 
had come to live in the finest country in the vrorld ; 
that South Carolina was the richest and best pari of 
the United States \ and that he was going to sell us 
to gentlemen who would make us all very happy, anc. 
would require us to do uo hard work ; but only raise 



The Life of an American Slave. 



95 



cotton aiul pick it. He tlien oraercd a liandsomo 
young lad, about eighteen years of age, to follow liim 
into the street, where he observed a great concourse 
of persons cllected. Here the jailor made another 
harangue to the multitude, in which he assured them 
that he was just about to sell the most valuable lot 
of slaves that had ever been offered in Cdumbia. 
That we wrre all young, in excellent health, of good 
liabits, having been all purchased in Virginia, from 
the estates of tobacco planters ; and that there was 
not one in the whole Int who had lost the use of a 
single finger, or was blind of an cy.'. 

Hethenerh'd the poor lad f.r sale, and the first 
bid he received was two hundred dollars. Others 
quickly succeeded, and the boy, who was a remarkably 
handsome youth, was stricken off in a few minutes to 
a young man who appeared n.^t much older than him- 
lelf, at'hree hundnd and fifty dollars. The purchaser 
paid down his price to our master on a table in the 
jail, and the lad, after bidding us farewell, followed 
his new master with tears running down his cheeks. 

He next sold a young girl, about fifteen or sixteen 
years old, for two hundred and fifty dollars, to a lady 
who attended the sales in her carriage, and made her 
bids out of the window. In this manner the sales 
were continued for about two hours and a half, when 
they were aajnurned until three o'clock. In tlie after- 



UG Fyiy y(^(i'''S in Chauis ; or. 



noon they were again resumed, and kept open until 
about five o'clock, when they were closed for the day. 
As my companions were sold, they were taken from 
amongst us, and we saw them no more. 

The next morning, before day, I was awakened from 
my sleep by the sound of several heavy fires of cannon, 
which w^ere discharged, as it seemed to me, within a 
fev/ yards of the ^olacc where I lay. These were suc- 
ceeded by fifes and drums, and all the noise with 
which I had formerly heard the fourth of July usher- 
ed in, at the Navy Yard in Washington. 

Since I had left Maryland I had carefully kept the 
reckoning of the days of the week, but had not been 
careful to note the dates of the month ; yet as soon 
as daylight appeared, and the door of our apartment 
was opened, I inr^uired and learned that this was, as 
1 had supposed it to be, the day of universal rejoicing. 

I understood that the court did not sit this day, 
but a great crowd of people gathered and remained 
around the jail all the morning ; many of whom were 
intoxicated, and sang and shouted in honor of free 
government, and the rights of man. About eleven 
o'clock, a long table was sj)read under a row of trees 
which grew in the street, not far from the jail, and 
which appeared to me to be of the kind called in 
Pennsylvania, the pride of China. At this table 
several hundred persons sat down to dinner soon after 



TJlc Life of nil Aiiicriccui Slave. 97 



uoon, and continued to eat and drink, and sing songs 
in honor of liberty, for more than two li<nirs. At the 
end of the dinner a gentleman rose and stood upon 
liis chair, near one end of tlic table, and begged the 
company to hear him fur a few minutes, lie informed 
them that ho was a candidate for some office — but 
what (ifficc it was I do not recollect — and said, that 
as it was an acknowledged principle of our free gov- 
ernment, that all men were born free and equal, ho 
l)resiuned it would not be deemed an act of arrogance 
in him, to call upon them for their votes at the coming 
election. 

This first speaker was succcedt d by another, wlio 
addressed his audience in nearly the same language ; 
and after he had concluded, the company broke up. I 
heard a black man that belonged to the jailer, or, who 
was at least in his service, say that there had been a 
great meeting that morning in the court liou.se, at which 
several gentlemen had made speeches. 

When I lived at the navy-yard, the oflicers s(;me- 
tiniL's permitted me to go up town with them, on the 
fourth of July, and listen to the fine speeches that were 
made there, on such occasions. 

About five o'clock, the jailer came and stood at the 
front door of the jail, and proclaimed, in a very loud 
vuicv, that a sale of most valuable slaves would im- 
mediately take place ; that he had sold many fine hands 



98 Fiftij Years in Ciains ; :r, 

yesterday, but they were only the refuse and most 
worthless part of the whole lot ; — that those who 
wished to get great bargains and prime property, had 
better attend now ; as it was certain that such negroes 
had never been offered for sale in Columbia before. 

In a few minutes the whole assembly, that had com- 
posed the dinner party, and hundreds of others, were 
convened around the jair door, and the jailer again 
proceeded with his^ auction. Several of the stoutest 
men and handsomest women in the whole company, 
had been reserved for this day ; and I perceived that 
the very best of us were kept back for the last. We 
went off at rather better prices than had been obtain- 
ed on the former day ; and I perceived much eagerness 
amongst the bidders, many of whom were not sober. 
"Within less than three hours, only three of us remain- 
ed in the jail ; and we were ordered to come and stand 
at the door, in front of the crier, who made a most 
extravagant eulogium upon our good qualities and 
capacity to perform labor. He said, " These three 
fellows are as strong as horses, and as patient as mules ; 
one of them can do as much work as two common 
men, and they are perfectly honest. Mr. M'Giffin 
says, he was assured by their former masters that they 
were never known to st^al, or run away. They must 
bring good prices, gentlemen, or they will not be sold." 
Their master is determined, that if they do not bring 



Tlie Life of ail American Slave. 99 

six hundred dollars, he will not sell them, hut will 
take them to Georgia next summer, and sell them to 
some of the new settlers. These boys can do anything. 
This one," referring to me, " can cut five cords of wood 
in a day, and juit it up. He is a rough carpenter, 
and a first rate field hand. This one," laying his hand 
on the slioulderof one of my companions, ^'is a black- 
smith ; and can lay a ploughshare ; put new steel 
upon an axe ; or nuiid a brnkeu chain." The other, 
he recommended as a good shoemaker, and well ac- 
quainted with the j>rocess of tanning leatlier. 

We were all nearly of the same age ; and very stoiil, 
healthy, robust yung men, in full possession of our 
corporal j^owers ; anel if we had buen shut U[) in a 
room, with ten of the stroni:rest of those wlio had 
assembled to purchase us, and our liberty had depend- 
ed on tying them fiist to each other, I have no doubt 
that we should have been free, if ropes had been pro- 
vided for us. 

After a few minutes of hesitancy amongst the pur- 
chasers, and a closer examination of our persons than 
had been made in the jail-yard, an elderly gentleman 
said he would take the carpenter ; and the blacksmith, 
and shoemaker, were immediately taken by others, at 
the required price. 

It was now sundown. The heat of the day had 
been very oppressive, and I was glad to be released 



100 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



from tlie confined air of the jail, and the hot atmos- 
phere, in ^\-hich so many hmidreds were breathing. — 
Mt new master asked me my name, and ordered me 
to follow him. 

We proceeded to a tavern, where a great number of 
persons were assembled, at a short distance from the 
jail. My master entered the house, and joined in the 
conversation of the party, in which the utmost hilarity 
prevailed. They were drinking toasts in honor of 
liberty and independence, over glasses of toddy — a 
lic[Uor composed of a mixture of rum, Avater, sugar, 
and nutmeg. 

It was ten o'clock at night before my master and his 
companions had finished their toasts and toddy ; and 
all this time, I had been standing before the door, or 
sitting on a log of wood, that lay in front of the house. 
At one time, I took a seat on a bench, at the side of 
the house ; but was soon driven from this position by 
a gentleman, in military clothes, with a large gilt 
epaulet on each shoulder, and a profusion of glittering 
buttons on his coat ; who passing near me in the dark, 
and happening to cast his eye on me, demanded of me, 
in an imperious tone, how I dared to sit on that seat. 
I told him I was a stranger, and did not know that it 
was wrong to sit there. He then ordered me with an 
oath, to begone from there ; and said, if he caught me 
on that bench again, he would cut my head off " Did 



The Life of an American SlaV' . 101 



you not sec ^vhitc people sit upon that bench, ymi sancy 
'rascal »" said he. I assured him I had not seen any 
«hite gentleman sit on thehench, as it was near night 
when Icame to the house ; that I had not intended to 
l,e sauev, or misl.ehavc myself; and that I hoped he 
would not be angry with me, as my master had left 
,„c at the door, and had not told me where I was to sit. 
I remained on the log until the termination of the 
festival, in honor of liWrty and eqiiality ; when my 
master came to the door, and observed in my hearing, 
to some of his friends, that they had celebrated the 
day in a handsome manner. 

\o person, except the military gentleman, had 
spoken to me since I came to the house in the even- 
in- with my master, who seemed to have forgotten me ; 
for he remained at the door, warmly engaged in con- 
versation, on various political subjects, a full hour after 
he rose from the toast party. At length, however, I 
heard him say-" I bought a negro this evcumg-i 
wonder where he is." Rising immediately from the 
loc on which I had been so long seated, I presented 
nn^self before. him, and said, "Here, master. He 
then ordered me to go to the kitchen of the mn, and 
CO to sleep ; but said nothing to me about supper.- 
l retired to the kitchen, where I found a large num- 
ber of servants, who belonged to the house, and among 
them two young girls, who had been purchased bv a 



102 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

gentleman ^vbo lived near Augusta ; and who, they 
told me, intended to set out for his i^lantation the 
next morning, and take them with him. 

These girls had been sold out of our comi^any on the 
first day ; and had been living in the tavern kitchen 
since that time. They appeared quite contented, and 
evinced no repugnance to setting out the next morn- 
ing for their master's plantation. They were of that 
order of people who never look beyond the present 
day ; and so long as they had j^lenty of victuals, in 
this kitchen, they did not trouble themselves with 
reflections uj^on the cotton field. 

One of the servants gave me some cold meat and a 
piece of wheaten bread, which was the first I had 
tasted since I left Maryland, and indeed, it was the 
last that I tasted until I reached Maryland again. 

I here met with a man who was born and brouirlit 
up in the ISTorthern Neck of Virginia, on the banks of 
the Potomac, and wdthin a few miles of my native 
place. We soon formed an acquaintance, and sat up 
nearly all night. He was the chief hostler in the 
stable of this tavern, and told me that he had often 
thought of attempting to escape, and return to Yir- 
ginia. He said he had little doubt of being able to 
reach the Potomac ; but having no knowledge of the 
country beyond that river, he was afraid that he should 
not be able to make his way to Philadelphia ; which 



The Life of an American Slave. 103 

he rcgardcMl as tlio only place in uliicli he could ho 
Fafo from the pursuit of his master. I was myself 
tlien young, and my knowledge of the country, north 
of Baltimore, was very vague and undelined. I, Ik^w- 
cver, told him, that I had heard, that if a hlack man 
could reach any j)art of Pennsylvania, Ik^ W(Mild he 
beyond the reach of liis pursuers, lie said he could 
not justly complain of want of food ; but tlie services 
required of him were so unreasonable, and the punish- 
ment frequently inflicted upon him, so severe, that he 
was detennined to set out for the North, as soon as 
the corn was so far ripe as to be fit to be roasted. lie 
felt confident, that by lying in the woods and unfre- 
quented places all day, and traveling only by night, 
he could escape the vigilance of all pursuit ; and gain 
the Northern Neck, before the corn would be gathered 
from the fields. lie had no fear of wanting food, as 
he could live well on roasting ears, as long as the 
corn was in the milk ; and afterwards, on parched 
corn, as long as the grain remained in the field. I 
advised him as well as I could, as to the best means 
of reaching the State of Pennsylvania, but was not 
able to give him any very definite instructions. 

This man possessed a veiy sound understanding ; 
and having been five years in Carolina, was well ac- 
quainted with the country. He gave me such an ac- 
count of the sufferings of the slaves, on the cott(m and 



104 Fifty Years in Chains ; o?% 

indigo plantations — of whom I now regarded mj^self as 
one — that I was unable to sleep any this night. 
From the resolute manner in which he spoke of his 
intended elopement, and the regularity with which he 
had connected the various combinations of the enter- 
prise, I have no doubt that he undertook that which 
he intended to perform. Whether he was successful 
or not in the enterprise, I cannot say, as I never saw 
him nor heard of him after the next morniuir. 

This man certainly communicated to me the out- 
lines of the i^lan, which I afterwards put in execution, 
and by which I gained my liberty, at the expense of 
sufferings, which none can appreciate, except those 
who have borne all that the stoutest human constitu- 
tion can bear, of cold and hunger, toil and pain. 
The conversation of this slave aroused in my breast 
so many recollections of the past, and fears of the fu- 
ture, that I did not lie down, but sat on an old chair 
until daylight. 

From the people of the kitchen I again received 
some cold victuals for my breakfast, but I did not see 
my master until about nine o'clock ; the toddy of the 
last evening causing him to sleep late this morning. 
At length a female slave gave me notice that my 
master wished to see me in the dining-room, whither 
I repaired without a moment's delay. When I en- 
tered the room he was sitting near the window, smok- 



The Life of an American Slave. 105 



mg a pipe, with a very long handle— I believe more 
than two feet in length. 

He asked no (lucstions, hut addressing me by the 
title of " boy/' ordered me to go with the hostler of 
the inn, and get his horse and chaise ready. As soon 
as this order could be executed, I informed him that 
his chaise was at the door, and we immediately com- 
menced our journey to the plantation of my master, 
which, he told me, lay at the distance of twenty miles 
from Columbia. He said I must keep up with him, 
and, as he drove at the rate of five or six miles an 
hour, I was obliged to run nearly half the time ; but 
I was then young, and could easily travel fifty or sixty 
miles in a day. It was with great anxiety that I 
looked for the place, which was in future to be my 
home ; but this did not prevent me from making such 
observations upon the state of the country through 
which we traveled, as the rapidity of our march per- 
mitted. 

This whole region had originally been one vast wil- 
derness of pine forest, except the low grounds and 
river bottoms, here called swamps, in which all the 
varieties of trees, shrubs, vines, and plants peculiar to 
such places, in southoj^n latitudes, vegetated in un- 
restrained luxuriance, ISior is pine the only timber 
that grows on the uplands, in this part of Carolina, 
althouf^h it is the predominant tree, and in some 
° 5* 



106 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

places prevails to the exclusion of every other — oak. 
hickory, sassafras, and many others are found. 

Here, also, I first observed groves of the most beau- 
tiful of all the trees of the wood — the great Southern 
Magnolia, or Green Bay. No adequate conception 
can be formed of the appearance or the fragrance of 
this most magnificent tree, by any one who has not 
seen it or scented the air when scented by the perfume 
of its flowers. It rises in a right line to the height of 
seventy or eighty feet ; the stem is of a delicate taper 
form and casts ofi" numerous branches, in nearly right 
angles with itself ; the extremities of which decHne 
gently towards the ground, and become shorter and 
shorter in the ascent, until at the apex of the tree 
they are scarcely a foot in length, whilst below they 
are many times found twenty feet long. The immense 
cones formed by these trees are as perfect as those 
diminutive forms which nature exhibits in the bur of 
the pine tree. The leaf of the Magnolia is smooth, 
of an oblong taper form, about six inches in length, 
and half as broad. Its color is the deepest and purest 
green. The foliage of the Bay tree is as impervious 
as a brick wall to the rays of the sun, and its refresh- 
ing coolness, in the heat of a summer day, afi'ords one 
of the greatest luxuries of a cotton plantation. It 
blooms in May, and bears great numbers of broad, ex- 
panded white flowers, the odor of which is exceedingly 



TIlc Life of an American Slave. 107 

grateful, and so abundant, tliat I have no doubt that 
a grove of these trees in full bloom, may be smcUed 
at a distance of fifteen or twenty miles. I have heard 
it asserted in the South, that their scent has been 
perceived by jiersons fifty or sixty miles from them. 

This tree is one uf nature's most splendid, and in 
the climate wlicre slic has placed it, one of her most 
agreeable product iuns. It is peculiar to the southern 
temi)erate latitudes, and cannot bear the rigors of a 
northern winter ; though I have heard that groves of 
the Bay are found on Fishing Creek, in Western Vir- 
ginia, not far from Wheeling, and near the Ohio river. 
Could this tree be naturalized in Pennsylvania, it 
would form an ornament to her towns, cities and coun- 
try seats, at once the most tasteful and the most de- 
licious. A forest of these trees, in the month of May, 
resembles a wood, enveloped in an untimely fall of 
snow at midsummer, glowing in the rays of a morn- 
ing sun. 

We i>a.ssed this day through cotton-fields and pine 
woods, alternately ; but tne scene^'as sometimes en- 
livened by the appearance of lots of corn and sweet 
potatoes, which, I observed, were generally planted 
near the houses. I afterwards learned that this cus- 
tom of planting the corn and potatoes near the house 
of the planter, is generally all over Carolina. The 
object is to prevent the slaves from stealing, and thus 



108 FiftTj Years in Chains ; or, 

j^rocuring more food than, by the Laws of the planta- 
tion, they are entitled to. 

In jDassing through a lane, I this day saw a field, 
which aj^peared to me to contain about fifty acres, in 
which j)eople were at work with hoes, amongst a sort 
of plants that I had never seen before. I asked my 
master what this was, and he told me it was indigo. I 
shall have occasion to say more of this plant hereafter. 

We at length arrived at the residence of my master, 
who descended from his chaise, and leaving me in 
charge of the horse at the gate, proceeded to the house 
across a long court yard. In a few minutes two young 
ladies, and a young gentleman, came out of the house, 
and walked to the gate, near which I was with the 
horse. One of the ladies said, they had come to look 
at me, and see what kind of a boy her pa had brought 
home with him. The other one said I was a very 
smart looking boy ; and this compliment flattered me 
greatly — they being the first kind words that had been 
addressed to me since I left Mai-yland. The young 
gentleman asked me if I could run fixst, and if I had 
ever picked cotton. His manner did not impress me 
so much in his favor, as the address of his sister had 
done for her. These three young persons were the son 
and daughters of my master. After looking at me a 
short time, my young master (for so I must now call 
him) ordered me to take the harness from the horse. 



Tilt Life of an American Slave. 101> 



£;ive him water at a well which was near, aiul como 
into the kitchen, where some boiled rice was -ivcn 
mc fur my dinner. 

I was not required to go to work this first day of my 
al>ode in my new residence ; hut after 1 had calm my 
rice, my youn- master tohl mc I might rest myself or 
walk out and sec the plantation, hut that I must bo 
ready to go with the overseer the next morning. 



110 Fifty Years in CJiains ; or. 



CHAPTEE YI. 



By tlie laws of the United States I am still a slave ; 
and though I am now growing old, I might even yet 
be deemed of sufficient value to be worth pursuing as 
fav as my present residence, if those to whom the law 
gives the right of dominion over my person and life, 
knew where to find me. For these reasons I have been 
advised, by those whom I believe to be my friends, not 
to disclose the true names of any of those families in 
which I was a slave, in Carolina or Georgia, lest this 
narrative should meet their eyes, and in some way 
lead them to a discovery of my retreat. 

I was now the slave of one of the most wealthy 
planters in Carolina, who planted cotton, rice, indigo, 
corn, and potatoes ; and was the master of two hun- 
dred and sixty slaves. 

The description of one great cotton plantation will 
give a correct idea of all others ; and I shall here pre- 
sent an outline of that of my master's. 

He lived about two miles from Caugaree river, which 



The Life of an Amerkxin Slave. Ill 

bordered his estate on one side, and in the swanijis of 
wliicli were his rice fields. The country lioreabout is 
very flat, the banks of the river are low, and in wet 
seasons large tracts of countr}' are flooded by the super- 
abundant water of the river. There are no springs, 
and the only means of procuring water on tlie jdanta- 
tions is from wells, which must be sunk in general 
about twenty feet deej->, before a constant supply of 
water can be obtained. My master had two of these 
wells on his plantation— one at the mansion house, 
and one at the quarter. 

My master's house was of brick, (brick houses are by 
no means common among the planters, wliosc residences 
are generally built of frame work, weather boarded 
witli ].inc boards, and covered witli shingles of the 
wliite cedar or juniper cypress,) and contained two 
large jKirlurs, and a spacious hall or entry on the 
f;round floor. The main buildinir was two stories hifli, 
and attached to this was a smaller building, one story 
and a half high, with a large room, where the family 
generally took breakfast, with a kitchen at the farther 
extremity from the main building. 

There was a spacious garden behind the house, con- 
taining, I believe, about five acres, well cultivated, 
and handsomely laid out. In this garden grew a great 
variety of vegetables ; some of which I have never 
seen in the market of Philadelphia. It contained a 



112 Fifti Years in Cltains ; or, 



profusion of flowers, three different shrubberies, a vast 
number of ornamental and small fruit trees, and several 
small hot houses, with glass roofs. There was a head 
gardener, who did nothing but attend to this garden 
through the year ; and during the summer he gener- 
ally had two men and two boys to assist him. In the 
months of April and May this garden was one of the 
sweetest and most pleasant j^laces that I ever was in. 
At one end of the main building was a small house, 
called the library, in which my master kept his books 
and papers, and where he spent much of his time. 

At some distance from the mansion was a pigeon- 
house, and near the kitchen was a large wooden build- 
ing, called the kitchen quarter, in wliich the house 
servants slept, and where they generally took their 
meals. Here, also, the washing of the fomily was 
done, and all the rough or unpleasant work of the 
kitchen department — such as cleaning and salting fish, 
putting up pork, &c., was assigned to this jjlace. 

There was no barn on this plantation, according to 
the acceptation of the word ham in Pennsylvania ; 
but there was a wooden building, about forty feet long, 
called the coach-house, in one end of which the flimily 
carriage and the chaise in which my master rode were 
kept. Under the same roof was a stable large enough 
to contain a dozen horses. In one end the corn in- 
tended for the horses was kept, and the whole of one 



The Life of cm American Slave. 113 

loft was occiii>ie(l ]>}' tlic blades and tops of tlic corn. 
About a quarter of a mile from the dwelling bouse 
were tbc buts or cabins of tbc plantation slaves, stand- 
ing in rows. Tlicre were tbirty-cigbt of tbcm, gener- 
ally about sixteen feet square, and provided witb pine 
floors. In tliese cabins were two bundrej ainl fifty 
people, of all ages, sexes and sizes. A sbort distance 
from tbe cabins was tbe bouse of tbc ovei-seer. In one 
cnrner of bis garden stood a corn-crib and a provision- 
bouse. A little way off stood tbe bouse containing 
tbe cotton-i;in. Tbere was no smoke-bouse, nor anv 
]>lace for curing meat, and wbile I was on tbis planta- 
tion no food was ever salted for tbe use of tbe slaves. 
I went out into the garden, and after sundown my 
old master sent me to tbe overseer's bouse. lie was 
just coming in from tbe field, followed by a great 
number of black peoide. He asked me my name, and 
calling a middle-aged man, wbo was passing us at 
some distance, told bim be must take me to live witb 
bim. I followed my new friend to bis cabin, wbicb 
was tbe shelter of bis wife and five children. Their 
only furniture consisted of a few blocks of wood for 
seats ; a short bench, made of a pine board, which 
served as a table ; and a small bed in one comer, com- 
posed of a mat, made of common rushes, spread upon 
some com husks, pulled and split into fine pieces, and 
kept together by a narrow slip of wood, confined to the 



114 Fiftij Years in Cliains ; or, 



floor by wooden pins. There was a common iron pot 
standing beside the chimney, and several wooden spoons 
and dishes hung against the wall. Several blankets 
also hung against the wall upon wooden pins. An old 
box, made of pine boards, without either lock or hinges, 
occupied one corner. 

At the time I entered this humble abode the mis- 
tress was not at home. She had not yet returned from 
the field ; having been sent, as the husband informed 
me, with some other peoj^le late in the evening, to do 
some work in a field about two miles distant. I found 
a child, about a year old, lying on the mat-bed, and a 
little girl about four years old sitting beside it. 

These children were entirely naked, and when we 
came to the door, the elder rose from its place and ran 
to its father, and clasping him round one of his knees, 
said, " Now we shall get good supper." The father 
laid his hand upon the head of his naked child, and 
stood silently looking in its face — which was turned 
upwards toward his own for a moment — and then 
turning to me, said, " Did you leare any children at 
home ?" The scene before me — the question pro- 
pounded — and the manner of this poor man and his 
child, caused my heart to swell until my breast seemed 
too small to contain it. My soul fled back upon the 
wings of fancy to my wife's lowly dwelling in Mary- 
land, where I had been so often met on a Saturday 



The Life cf an American Slave. 115 



evening, wlicn I paid them my weekly visit, l.y my 
own little ones, who clung to my knees for protection 
and support, even as the poor little wretch now before 
me seized upon the wear}^ liml of its hapless and 
destitute father, hoping that, naked as he was, (fur he 
too was naked, save only the tattered remains of a 
pair (.fold trowsers,) he would hring with his return 
at evening its customary scanty supper. I was un- 
able to reply, but stood motionless, leaning against 
the walls of tlie cabin. My children seemed to flit by 
the door in the dusky twilight ; and the twittering of 
a swallow, which that moment fluttered over my head, 
sounded in my ear as the infantile tittering of my own 
little boy ; but on a moment's reflection I knew that 
we were separated without the hope of ever again 
meeting ; that they no more heard the welcome tread 
(.f my feet, and could never again receive the little 
gifts with which, poor as I was, I was accustomed to 
present them. I was far from the place of my nati- 
vity, in a land of strangers, with no one to care f )r me 
beyond the care that a master bestows upon his ox ; 
with all my future life one long, waste, barren desert, 
of cheerless, hopeless, lifeless slavery ; to be varied 
only by the pangs of hunger and the stings of the lash. 
My revery was at length broken by the appearance 
of the mother of the i\xmily, with her three eldest 
children. The mother wore an old ragged shift ; but 



116 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



the cliildren, the eldest of wliom appeared to be about 
twelve, and the youngest six years old, "were quite 
naked. When she came in, the husband told her that 
the overseer had sent me to live with them ; and she 
and her oldest child, who was a boy, immediately set 
about preparing their supper, by boiling some of the 
leaves of the weed, called lamb's-quarter, in the pot. 
This, together with some cakes of cold corn bread, 
formed their supper. My supper was brought to me 
from the house of the overseer by a small girl, his 
daughter. It was about half a pound of bread, cut 
from a loaf made of corn meal. My companions gave 
me a part of their boiled greens, and we all sat do^vn 
together to my first meal in my new habitation. 

I had no other bed than the blanket which I had 
brought with me from Maryland ; and I went to sleep 
in tlie loft of the cabin which was assigned to me as 
my sleeping room ; and in which I continued to lodge 
as long as I remained on this plantation. 

The next morning I was waked, at the break of day, 
by the sound of a horn, which was blown very loudly. 
Perceiving that it was growing light, I came down, 
and went out immediately in front of the house of the 
orerseer, who was standing near his own gate, blowing 
the horn. In a few minutes the whole of the working 
people, from all the cabins, were assembled ; and as it 
was now li^-ht cnoudi foi me distinctly to see such 



The Life >j' "" American Slave. 



117 



..l.jects as were about nic, I at once rcrccivc-a the 
nature of tlio servitude to wbieli I ^^•as, m lulur.., t.. 

be subject. 

\s I have before stated, there were altogethor on 
this i-lautation, two hundred and sixty shivcs ; but 
the number was sc-ldoni stationary for a sin-le week. 
Births were numerous and frequent, and deaths wore 
not uneomraon. When I joined them I believe we 
counted in all two hundred and sixty-three ; but ot 
these only one hun.lr.-d and seventy went to the field 
to work. The others were children, too small to be of 
any service as laborers ; old and blind persons, -r ni- 
curably diseased. Ten or twelve were kept about the 
mansion-house and garden, chosen from the most hand- 
some and sprightly of the gang. 

I think about one hundred and sixty-eight assem- 
bled this morning, at the sound of the horu-tuo or 
thr<;c being sick, sent word to the overseer that they 

could not come. 

The overseer wrote smn.-inn,- -a a piece of paper, 
and gave it to his little son. This I was t.dd was a 
note to be sent to our master, to infonn hii.. that some 
of the hands were sick— it not being any part uf the 
duty of the overseer to attend to a sick negro. 

The overseer then led ofi'to the field, with iiis horn 
i„ one hand an,l his whip in the other ; we f.dlowing— 
men, w,.men, and children, promiscuously— and a 



118 Fijty Years in Chains] or, 



wretched looking troop we Avere. There was not an 
entire garment amongst ns. 

More than half of the gang were entirely naked. 
Several j^oung girls, who had arrived at puberty, wear- 
ing only the livery with which nature had ornamented 
them, and a great number of lads, of an equal or 
superior age, appeared in the same costume. There 
was neither bonnet, cap, nor head dress of any kind 
amongst us, except the old straw hat that I wore, and 
which my wife had made for me in Maryland. This 
I soon laid aside to avoid the appearance of singularity, 
and, as owing to the severe treatment 1 had endured 
whilst traveling in chains, and being compelled to 
sleep on the naked floor, without undressing myself, 
my clothes were quite worn out, I did not make a 
much better figure than my companions ; though still 
I preserved the semblance of clothing so far, that it 
could be seen that my shirt and trowsers had once been 
distinct and separate garments. Not one of the others 
had on even the remains of two pieces of apparel. — 
Some of the men had old shirts, and some ragged trow- 
sers, but no one wore both. Amongst the women, 
several wore petticoats, and many had shifts. Not one 
of the whole number wore both of these vestments. 

We walked nearly a mile through one vast cotton 
field, before we arrivoi at the place of our intended 
day's labor. At last the overseer stopped at the side 



The Life of an American Slave 119 



of the field, and calling to several of the men by name, 
ordered them to call their companies and turn into 
their rows. The work we had to do to-day was to 
hoe and weed cotton, for the last time ; and the men 
whose names had been called, and who were, I believe, 
eleven in number, were designated as captains, each of 
whom had under his command a certain number of the 
other hands. The captain was the foreman of his 
company, and those under his command had to keep 
up with him. Each of the men and women had to 
take one row ; and two, and in some cases where they 
were very small, three of the children had one. The 
first captain, whose name was Simon, took the first 
row— and the other captains were compelled to keep 
up with him. By this means the overseer had noth- 
ing to do but to keep Simon hard at work, and he was 
certain that all the others must work equally hard. 

Simon was a stout, strong man, apparently about 
thirty-five years of age ; and for some reason unknown 
to me, I was ordered to take a row next to his. The 
overseer with his whip in his hand walked about the 
field after us, to see that our work was well done. As 
we worked with hoes, I had no difficulty in learning 
how the work was to be performed. 

The fields of cotton at this season of the year are 
verv beautiful. The plants, among which we worked 
this day, were about three feet high, and in full bloom. 



120 Fifty Years in Chains ; or,^ 

with brandies so numerous that they nearly covered 
the whole ground — leaving scarcely space enough be- 
tween them to permit us to move about, and work with 
our hoes. ^ 

About seven o'clock in the morninir the overseer 
sounded his horn ; and we all repaired to the shade of 
some persimmon trees, which grew in a corner of the 
field, to get our breakfast. I here saw a cart drawn 
by a yoke of oxen, driven by an old black man, nearly 
blind. The cart contained three barrels, filled with 
water, and several large baskets full of corn bread 
that had been baked in the ashes. The water was for 
us to drink, and the bread was our breakfast. The 
little son of the overseer was also in the cart, and had 
brought with him the breakfiist of his father, in a 
small wooden bucket. 

The overseer had bread, butter, cold ham, and cofi'ee 
for his breakfast. Ours was composed of a corn cake, 
wTighing about three-quarters of a pound, to each 
person, with as much water as was desired. I at first 
pujiposed that this bread was dealt out to the peoj)le 
as their allowance ; but on further inquiry I found this 
not to be the case. Simon, by whose side I was now 
at work, and who seemed much pleased with my agil- 
ity and diligence in my duty, told me that here, as 
well as every where in this country, each person re- 
ceived a peck of corn at the ciib door, every Sunday 



Tlic Life nf an American Slave. 121 

evening, and tliat in ordinary times, every one had to 
^rind tliis corn and bake it, for him or herself, making 
Ruch use of it as the owner tliouglit proper ; hut tliat 
for some time past, tlie overseer, for t];e purpose of sav- 
ing tho time which had been lost in baking tlic bread, 
had made it the duty of an old woman, who was not 
cajiable of doing much work in the field, to stay at tho 
quarter, and bake the bread of the whole gang. When 
baked, it was brought to tlie fifld in a cart, as I saw, 
and dealt out in loaves. 

They still had to grind their own corn, after niglit ; 
and as there were only three hand-mills on the i)lanta- 
tion, he said they experienced much difliculty in con- 
verting their corn into meal. We worked in this field all 
day ; and at the end of every hour, or hour and a quarter, 
we had permission to go to the cart, which was moved 
about the field, so as to be near us, and get water. 

Our dinner was the same, in all res])ects, as our 
breakfast, except that, in addition to the bread, we 
had a little salt, and a radish for each person. We 
were not allowed to rest at either breakfast or dinner, 
longer than while we were eating ; and we worked in 
the evening as long as we could distinguish the weeds 
from the cotton plants. 

Simon informed me, that formerly, when they bak- 
ed their own bread, they had left theii work soon after 
sundown, to go home and bake for the next day, but 



122 Fifty Years in Chai7is ; or, 

the overseer had adopted the new policy for the pur- 
pose of keeping them at work until dark. 

When we could no longer see to work, the horn was 
again sounded, and we returned home. I had now 
lived through one of the days — a successsion of which 
make up the life of a slave — on a cotton plantation. 

As we went out in the morning, I observed several 
women, who carried their young children in their arms 
to the field. These mothers laid their children at the 
side of the fence, or under the shade of the cotton 
plants, whilst they were at work ; and when the rest 
of us went to get water, they would go to give suck to 
their children, requesting some one to bring them water 
in gourds, which they were careful to carry to the field 
with them. One young woman did not, like the others, 
leave her child at the end of the row, but had con- 
trived a sort of rude knapsack, made of a piece of 
coarse liven cloth, in w^liich she fastened her child, 
which was very young, upon her back ; and in this 
way carried it all day, and performed her task at the 
hoe with the other people. I pitied her, and as we 
were going home at night escorted her and learned her 
history. She had been brought wp a lady's-maid, and 
knew little of hardship until she was sold South by a 
dissipated master. On this plantation she was obliged 
to marry a man she did not like, and was often severely 
whipped because she could not do as much work as the 



Tlic Life of an American Slave. 123 

rest. I was affected by her story, and the overseer's 
horn interrupted our conversation, at hearing which 
she exclaimed, " We are too late, let us run, or wo 
shall he whipped," and setting off as fast as she could 
run, she left me alone. I quickened my pace, and 
arrived in the crowd a moment before her. 



124 Fifty Years in Chains ; or. 



CHAPTER YII 



The overseer was calling over the names of the whole 
from a little book, and the first name I heard was that 
of my companion — Lydia. As she did not answer, I 
said, " Master, the woman that carries her baby on her 
back will be here in a minute." He paid no attention 
to what I said, but went on with his call. As the 
people answered to their names, they passed ofi" to the 
cabins, except three, two women and a man ; who, 
when their names were called, were ordered to go into 
the yard, in front of the overseer's house. My name 
was the last on the list, and when it was called I was 
ordered into the yard with the three others. Just as 
we had entered, Lydia came up out of -breath, with the 
child in her arms ; and following us into the yard, 
dropped on her knees before the overseer, and begged 
liim to forgive her. " Where have you been ?" said 
he. Poor Lydia now burst into tears, and said, ^^ I 
only stopped to talk awhile to this man,'' pointing to 
ue ; '^but indeed, niaster overseer, I will never do so 



Tlic Life (]f in American Slave. 125 

again." " Lie do^vll/' was his reply. Lydia immedi- 
ately fell prostrate upon the ground ; and in this posi- 
tion he compelled her to remove her old tow linen shift, 
the only garment she wore, so as to expose her hips, 
when he gave her ten lashes, with his long whip, every 
touch of which brought blood, and a shriek from the 
suflcror. He then ordered her to go and get her sup- 
per, with an injunction never to stay behind again. — 
The other three culprits were then put upon their trial. 

The first was a middle aged woman, who liad, as 
Jier overseer said, left several hills of cotton in the 
course of the day, witliout cleaning and hilling them 
in a proper manner. She received twelve lashes. The 
otlier two were charged in general terms, with having 
been lazy, and of having neglected their work that 
day. Each of these received twelve lashes. 

These people all received punishment in the same 
manner that it had been inflicted upon Lydia, and 
when they were all gone the overseer turned to me and 
said — ^'Boy, you are a stranger here yet, but I called 
you in to let you see how things are done here, and to 
give you a little advice. When I get a new negro 
under my command, I never whip at first ; I always 
give him a few days to learn his duty, unless he is an 
outrageous villain, in which case I anoint him a little 
at the beginning. I call over the names of all the 
hands twice every week, on Wednesday and Saturday 



126 Fifhj Years in CJiains ; or, 

evenings, and settle with tliem according to their gen- 
eral conduct for the last three days. I call the names 
of my captains every morning, and it is their business 
to see that they have all their hands in their projier 
places. You ought not to have staid behind to-night 
with Lyd ; but as this is your first offence, I shall 
overlook it, and you may go and get your supper." I 
made a low bow, and thanked master overseer for his 
kindness to me, and left him. This night for supper 
we had corn bread and cucumbers ; but we had neither 
salt, vinegar, nor pepper with the cucimibers. 

I had never before seen people flogged in the way 
our overseer flogged his peoj)le. This plan of making 
the person who is to be whipj)ed lie down upon the 
ground, was new to me, though it is much 2:)racticed 
in the South ; and I have since seen men, and women 
too, cut nearly in pieces by this mod^ of punishment. 
It has one advantage over tying people uj^ by the 
hands, as it j)revents all accidents from sprains in the 
thumbs or wrists. 

On Monday morning I heard the sound of the horn 
at the usual hour, and repairing to the front of the 
overseer's house, found that he had already gone to 
the corn crib, for the purj)ose of distributing corn 
among the people, for the bread of the week ; or rather 
for the week's subsistence, for this corn was all the 
provision that our master, or his overseer, usually made 



The Life of an American Slave. 127 

ft»r us ; I say usually, for wliati'V(?r was «^nvon to us 
beyond the corn, which we received on Sunday cvcn- 
in;:^, was considered in the light of a hounty bestowed 
upon us, over and beyond what we were entitled to, 
or had a rij;]it to expect to receive. 

When I arrived at tlie crib, tlio door was unlocked 
and open, and the distribution had already commenced. 
Each i)erson was entitled to half a bushel of ears of 
corn, which was measured out by several of the men 
who were in the crib. Kver}'" child above six months 
old drew this weekly allowance of corn ; and in this 
way, wonun who had several small children, had more 
Com than they could consume, and sometimes bartered 
huiall quantitius with the other peoidc for such things 
as they needed, and were not able to procure. 

The people received their corn in baskets, old bags, 
or any thing with wIiIlIi they could most conveniently 
l)rnvi(le themselves. I had not been able, since I came 
here, to procure a basket, or any thing else to put my 
corn in, and desired the man with whom I lived to take 
my portion in his basket, with that of his family. This 
he readily agreed to do, and as soon as we had received 
r»ur share we left the crib. 

The overseer attended in person to the measuring of 
this corn ; and it is only justice to him to say that he 
was careful to see that justice was done us. The men 
who measured the corn always heaped the measure as 



128 Fifhj Years in Chains ; or, 

long as an car would lie on ; and lie never restrained 
their generosity to their fellow-slaves. 

In addition to this allowance of corn, we received a 
weekly allowance of salt, amounting in general to about 
half a gill to each pei*son ; but this article was not 
furnished regularly, and sometimes w^e received none 
for two or three weeks. 

The reader must not suppose, that, on this planta- 
tion, we had nothing to eat beyond the corn and salt. 
This was far from the case. I have already described 
the gardens, or patches, cultivated by the people, and 
the practice which they universally followed of work- 
ing on Sunday, f jr wages. In addition to all these, 
an industrious, managing slave would contrive to gather 
up a great deal to eat. 

I have observed, that the planters are careful of the 
health of their slaves, and in pursuance of this rule, 
they seldom expose them to rainy weather, especially 
in the sickly seasons of the year, if it can be avoided. 

In the spring and early parts of the summer, the 
rains are frequently so violent, and the ground becomes 
BO wet, that it is injurious to the cotton to work it, at 
least whilst it rains. In the course of the year there 
are many of these miny days, in w^hich the peoj^le can- 
not go to work wdth safety ; and it often happens that 
there is nothing for them to do in the house. At such 
time they make baskets, brooms, horse collars, and 



Tlic Li/c of an Amcruan Slave, 129 



other thing?*, which they arc able to sell amongst the 
planters. 

The baskets arc made of wooden si-iits, and Uv 
brooms of young white oak or hickory trees. Tlio 
mats are sometimes made of splits, but more frequent- 
ly of flags, as they arc called— a kind of tall rush, 
which grows in swampy ground. The horse or mule 
collars art) made of hu.sks of com, though sometimes 
of m.-'hes, but the latter arc not \cry durable. 

The money procured by these, and various other 
means, which I shall explain hereafter, is laid out ])y 
the slaves in purchasing such little articles of necessity 
or luxur>', as it enables them to procure. A part is 
di.sbursed in payment for sugar, molasses, and some- 
times a few pounds of coffee, for the use of the fjimily ; 
another part is laid out for clothes for winter ; Jind no 
inconsiderable portion of his pittance is squandered 
away by the misguided slave for tobacco, and an occa- 
sional bottle of rum. Tobacco is deemed so indispen- 
sable to comfort, nay to existence, tluit hunger and 
nakedness are patiently endured, to enable the slave 
to indulge in this highest of cnjo}'ments. 

There being few towns in the cotton country, the 
sliops, or stores, are frequently kept at some cross road, 
or other public place, in or adjacent to a rich district 
of plantations. To these shops the slaves resort, 

sometimes with, and at other times without, the con- 

G* 



130 J^^fty Years in Chains / i>r, 

sent of the overseer, for tlie purpose of laying out the 
little money they get. Notwithstanding all the vigi- 
lance that is exercised by the planters, the slaves, who 
are no less vigilant than their masters, often lea^'e the 
plantation after the overseer has retired to his bed, 
and go to the store. ^ 

The store-keepers are always ready to accommodate 
the slaves, who are frequently better customers than 
many white people ; because the former always pay 
cash, whilst the latter almost always require credit. In 
dealing with the slave, the slioi3-keeper knows he can 
demand whatever price he pleases for his goods, with- 
out danger of being charged with extortion ; and he 
is ready to rise at any time of the night to oblige friends, 
who are of so much value to him. 

It is held highly disgraceful, on the part of store- 
keepers, to deal with the slaves for any thing but 
money, or the coarse fabrics that it is known are the 
usual products of the ingenuity and industry of the 
negroes ; but, notwithstanding this, a considerable 
traffic is carried on between the shop-keepers and slaves, 
in which the latter make their payments by barter. 
The utmost caution and severity of masters and over- 
seers, are sometimes insufficient to repress the cunning 
contrivances of the slaves. 

After we had received our corn, we deposited it in 
our several houses, and immediately followed the over- 



The Life of an American Slave, 131 



Bcer to the same cotton fickl, iu which we hod In en ;it 
work on Sunday. Our breaklast tliis moniing was 
bread, to whii li was added a hirgo biisket of apples, 
from the orchard of our master. These apples served 
us for a relish with our bread, both for breakfast and 
dinner, and when I returned to tlic quarter in i\w even- 
ing, Dinah (tlie name of the woman wlio was at the 
head of our family) produced at supper, a black juc^, 
containing; molassis, and 'j-ave me some <if llie molasses 
for my eupjKfr. 

I felt g^teful to Dinah for tliis act of kindness, as 
I well knew that her children rej^arded molasses as the 
j^reatest of Inmian luxuries, and that she was depriving 
them of their highest enjoyment to afford me the 
means of makinj; a ffourd full of molasses and water. 
I therefore proposed t) lur and her husband, whose 
name was Nero, that whilst I should remain a member 
of the family, I would contribute as much towards its 
support Qs Nero himself; or, at least, that I would 
bring nil my earnings into the family stock, provided 
I miglit be treated as one of its members, and be 
iljowed a portion of the proceeds of their patch or 
garden. This offer was very readily accepted, and 
from this time we constituted one community, as long 
^s I remained among the field hands on this plattation. 
After supper was over, we had to grind our corn ; but 
as we had to wait for our turn at the mill, we did not 



132 Fifty Years 'n Cltcdns ; or, 

get through this indispensable operation before one 
o'clock in the morning. We did not sit up all night 
to wait for our turn at the mill, but as our several 
turns were assigned us by lot, the person who had the 
first turn, when done with the mill, gave notice to the 
one entitled to the second, and so on. By this means 
nobody lost more than half an hour's slecp^ and in the 
morning every one's grinding was done. 

We worked very hard this week. We were now 
laying by the cotton, as it is termed ; that is, we were 
giving the last weeding and hilling to the crop, of 
which there was, on this plantation, about five hun- 
dred acres, which looked well, and promised to yield a 
fine picking. 

In addition- to the cotton, there was on this jilanta- 
tion one hundred acres of corn, about ten acres of in- 
digo, ten or twelve acres in sweet jDotatoes, and a rice 
swamp of about fifty acres. The potatoes and indigo 
had been laid by, (that is, the season of working in 
them was past,) before I came upon the estate ; and 
we were driven hard by the overseer to get done with 
the cotton, to be ready to give the corn another har- 
rowing and hoeing, before the season should be too fai 
advanced. Most of the corn in this part of the coun- 
try, was already laid by, but the crop here had been 
planted late, and yet required to be worked. 

We were supplied with an abundance of bread, foi 



The Life of an American Slave. 13? 

n peck of corn is as much as a man can consume in s 
week, if he has other vegetables with it ; ])Ut wc wen 
obliged to provide ourselves with the other articles, 
ncces,sar)* for our subsistence. Nero had corn in his 
patch, which was now hard enough to be fit for boiling, 
and my friend Lydia had beans in her gjinhn. Wo 
exchanged com for beans, and had a good suj)ply of 
both ; biit these delicacies we were obliged to reserve 
for 8UpiM?r. Wo took our breakfast in the field, from 
the cart, which seldom afforded us any thing better 
than bread, and some raw vegetables from the garden. 
Nothing of moment occurred amongst us, in this first 
week of my residence here. On Wednesday evening, 
called W'ttlement-night, two nu-n and a woman were 
whipiH'd ; but circumstances of this kind were so com- 
mon, that I shall, in future, not mention tlu in, unless 
something extraordinary attended them. 

I could make wooden bowls and ladles, and went to 
work with a man who was clearing some new land 
about two miles off — du the second Sunday of my so- 
journ here — and applied the money I earned in i>ur- 
chasing the tools necessary to enable me t(^ carry on 
my trade. I occupied all my leisure hours, for several 
months after this, in making n'ooden trays, and such 
other wooden vcs.sels as were most in demand. These 
I traded off, in part, to a store-keeper, who lived about 
five miles from the plantation ; and f jr some of my 



134 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

work I obtained money. Before Christmas, I had sold 
more than thirty dollars worth of my manufactures ; 
hut the merchant with whom I traded, charired such 
high prices for his goods, that I was poorly compen- 
sated for my Sunday toils, and nightly labors ; never- 
theless, by these means, I was able to keep our fiimily 
supplied with molasses, and some other luxuries, and 
at the approach of winter, I purchased three coarse 
blankets, to which Nero added as many, and we had 
all these made up into blanket-coats for Dinah, our- 
selves, and the children. 

About ten days after my arrival, we had a great 
feast at the quarter. One night, after we had returned 
from the field, the overseer sent for me by his little 
son, and when I came to his house, he asked me if I 
understood the trade of a butcher — I told liim I was 
not a butcher by trade, but that I had often assisted 
my master and others to kill hogs and cattle, and that 
I could dress a hog, or a bullock, as well as most peo- 
pie. He then told me he was going to have a beef 
killed in the morning at the great house, and I must 
do it — that he would not sjmre any of the hands to go 
with me, but he would get one of the house-boys to 
help me. 

When the morning came, I went, according to orders, 
to butcher the beef, which I expected to find in some 
enclosure on the plantation ; but the overseer told me 



Tlic Life y an American Slave. 135 



I must take ft boy named Toney from the lionso, whoso 
business it was to tako care of the cattU% ami p;o to 
the woods and look for the beef. Toncy and I set (nit 
sometime l)eforc sunrise, and went to a cow-pen, about 
a mile from the house, where ho said ho had seen the 
young cattle only a day or two before. At this cow- 
l>on, we saw several cows waiting to be milked, I sup- 
pose, for their calves were in an adjoining fuld, and 
separated from them only by a fence. Toncy tlicn suid, 
we should have to go to the long savanna, whno the 
dr)' cattle generally ranged, and thither wc set oiV — 
This long savanna lay at the distance of three mil« s 
from the cow-pen, and when we readied it, I found it 
to be literally what it was calle<l, a long savanna. It 
was a piece of low, swampy ground, several niil< s in 
extent, with an open space in tlic interior part of it, 
al)out a mile long, and jwrhaps a quarter of a mile in 
width. It was manifest that this open space was 
covered with water through the greater part of the 
year, which prevented the growth of timber in this 
jdacc ; though at the time it was dr>', except a pond 
near one end, which covered, perhaps, an acre of ground. 
In this natural meadow every kind of wild grass, com- 
mon to such jdaces in the southern country, abounded. 
Here I first saw the scrub and saw gras.scs— the first 
of which is so hard and rough, that it is gathered to 
scrub coarse wooden furniture, or even pewter ; and 



136 Fifty Years n Chains ; or, 

tlie last is provided with edges^ somewhat like saw 
teeth, so hard and sharj^ that it would soon tear the 
skin off the legs of any one who should venture to walk 
through it with bare limbs. 

As we entered this savanna, we were enveloped in 
clouds of musquitos, and swarms of galinippers, that 
threatened to devour us. As we advanced throudi 

o 

the grass, they rose up until the air was thick, and 
actually darkened with them. They rushed upon us 
with the fury of yellow-jackets, whose hive has been 
broken in upon, and covered every part of our persons. 
The clothes I had on, which were nothing but a shirt 
and trowsers of tow linen, afforded no j)rotection even 
against the musquitos, which were much larger than 
those found along the Ghesapeake Bay ; and nothing 
short of a covering of leather could have defended me 
against the galinippers. 

I was pierced by a thousand stings at a time, and 
verily believe I could not have lived beyond a few hours 
in this place. Toney ran into the pond, and rolled 
himself in the water to get rid of his persecutors ; but 
he had not been long there before he came running out, 
as fast as he had gone in, hallooing and clamoring in 
a manner wholly unintelligible to me. He was terri- 
bly frightened ; but I could not imagine what could 
be the cause of his alarm, until he reached the shore, 
when he turned round with his face to the water, and 



The Life of an American Slave. 137 



called out—" tlie biggest alligator in the whole world- 
did not you see him ?" I told him I had not seen 
anything but himself in the water; but he insisted 
that he had been chased in the pond by an alligator, 
which had followed him until he was close in the shore. 
We waited a few minutes for the alligator to rise to the 
surface, but were soon compelled by the musquitos, to 
quit this place. 

Toney said, we need not look for the cattle here ; 
no cattle could live amongst these musquitos, and I 
thought he was right in his judgment. We then pro- 
ceeded into the woods and thickets, and after wander- 
ing about for an hour or more, we found the cattle, 
and after much difficulty succeeded in driving a part 
of them back to the cow-pen, and enclosing them in it. 
I here selected the one that appeared to me to be the 
fattest, and securing it with ropes, we drove the ani- 
mal to the place of slaughter. 

This beef was intended as a feast for the slaves, at the 
laying by of the corn and cotton ; and when I had it 
hung up, and had taken the hide off, my young mas- 
ter, whom I had seen on the day of my arrival, came 
out to me, and ordered me to cut off the head, neck, 
legs, and tail, and lay them, together with the empty 
stomach and the harslet, in a basket. This basket 
was sent home, to the kitchen of the great house, by a 
woman and a boy, who attended for that purpose. I 



138 Fifty Years in Chains', or, 

think there was at least one hundred and twenty or 
thirty pounds of this o£fal. The residue of the carcass 
I cut into four quarters, and we carried it to the cellar 
of the great house. Here one of the hind quarters was 
salted in a tub, for the use of the family, and the other 
was sent, as a present, to a planter, who lived about 
four miles distant. The two fore-quarters were cut 
into very small pieces, and salted by themselves. — 
These, I was told, would be cooked for our dinner on 
the next day (Sunday) when there was to be a general 
rejoicing among all the slaves of the plantation. 

After the beef was salted down, I received some 
bread and milk for my breakfast, and went to join the 
hands in the corn field, where they were now harrow- 
ing and hoeing the crop for the last time. The over- 
seer had promised us that we should have holiday after 
the completion of this work, and by great exertion, 
we finished it about five o'clock in the afternoon. 

On our return to the quarter, the overseer, at roll- 
call — which he performed this day before night — told 
us that every family must send a bowl to the great 
house, to get our dinners of meat. This intelligence 
diffused as much joy amongst us, as if each one had 
drawn a prize in a lottery. At the assurance of a meat 
dinner, the old people smiled and showed their teeth, 
and, returned thanks to master overseer ; but many of 
the younger ones shouted, clapped their hands, leaped, 
and ran about with delight. 



The Life of an American Slave. 139 



Each family, or mess, now sent its deputy, witli a 
laro-e wooden bowl in his hand, to receive the dinner 
at the great kitchen. I went on the part of our family, 
and found that the meat dinner of this day was made 
up of the basket of tripe, and other offal, that I had 
prepared in the morning. The whole had been boiled 
in four great iron kettles, until the flesh had disap- 
peared from the bones, which were broken in small 
pieces— a flitch of bacon, some green corn, squashes, 
tomatos, and onions had been added, together with 
other condiments, and the whole converted into about 
a hundred gallons of soup, of which I received in my 
bowl, for the use of our family, more than two gallons. 
We had plenty of bread, and a supply of black-eye.d 
peas, gathered from our garden, some of which Dinah 
had boiled in our kettle, whilst I was gone for the soup, 
of which there was as much as we could consume, and 
I beheve that every one in the quarter had enough. 

I doubt if there was in the world a happier assem- 
blao-e than ours, on this Saturday evening. We had 
finished one of the grand divisions of the labors qf a 
cotton plantation, and were supplied with a dinner, 
which to the most of my fellow slaves appeared to be 
a great luxury, and most liberal donation on the part 
of our master, whom they regarded with sentiments of 
gratitude for this manifestation of his bounty. 

In addition to present gratification, they looked for- 



140 Fifty Years m CJiains ; or, 



ward to the enjoyments of tlie next day, when they 
were to spend a whole Sunday in rest and banqueting ; 
for it was known that the two fore-quarters of the 
bullock were to be dressed for Sunday's dinner, and I 
had told them that each of these quarters weighed at 
least one hundred pounds. 

Our quarter knew but little quiet this night ; sing- 
ing, playing on the banjo, and dancing, occupied nearly 
the whole community, until the break of day. Those 
who were too old to take any part in our active plea- 
sures, beat time with their hands, or recited stories of 
former times. Most of these stories referred to affairs 
that had been transacted in Africa, and were sufficiently 
fraught with demons, miracles, and murders, to ^x the 
attention of many hearers. 

To add to our happiness, the early peaches were now 
ripe, and the overseer permitted us to send, on Sunday 
morning, to the orchard, and gather at least ten bushels 
of very fine fruit. 

In South Carolina they have very good summer 
apples, but they fall from the trees, and rot immedi- 
ately after they are ripe ; indeed, very often they speck- 
rot on the trees, before they become ripe. This '• speck- 
rot," as it is termed, appears to be a kind of epidemic 
disease amongst apples ; for in some seasons whole 
orchards are subject to it, and the fruit is totally 
worthless, whilst in othei years, the fruit in the same 



The Life of an American Slave. 141 



orchard continues sound and good, until it is ripe. 
The climate of Carolina is, however, not favorable to 
the apple, and this fruit of so much value in the north, 
is in the cotton region only of a few weeks continu- 
ance — winter apples being unknown. Every climate 
is congenial to the growth of some kind of fruit tree ; 
and in Carolina and Georgia, the peach arrives at its 
utmost perfection ; the fig also ripens well, and is a 
delicious fruit. 

None of our people went out to work for wages, to- 
day. Some few devoted a part of the morning to such 
work as they deemed necessary in or about their patches, 
and some went to the woods, or the swamps, to collect 
sticks for brooms, and splits, or to gather flags for mats ; 
but far the greater number remained at the quarter, oc- 
cupied in some small work, or quietly awaiting the hour 
of dinner, which we had been informed, by one of the 
house-servants, would be at one o'clock. Every family 
made ready some preparation of vegetables, from their 
own garden, to enlarge the quantity, if not to heighten 
the flavor of the dinner of this day. 

One o'clock at length arrived, but not before it had 
been long desired ; and we proceeded with our bowls a 
second time, to the great kitchen. I acted, as I had 
done yesterday, the part of commissary for our family ; 
but when we were already at the place where we were 
to receive our soup and meat into our bowls, (for it 



142 Fifty Years \n Chains ; or, 



was understood that we were, with the soup, to have 
an allowance of both beef and bacon to-day,) we were 
told that puddings had been boiled for us, and that we 
must bring dishes to receive them in. This occasioned 
some delay, until we obtained vessels from the quarter. 
In addition to at least two gallons of soup, about a 
pound of beef, and a small piece of bacon, I obtained 
nearly two pounds of pudding, made of corn meal, 
mixed with lard, and boiled in large bags. This pud- 
ding, with the molasses that we had at home, formed a 
very palatable second course to our bread, soup, and 
vegetables. 

On Sunday afternoon, we had a meeting, at which 
many of our party attended. A man named Jacob, 
who had come from Virginia, sang and prayed ; but a 
great many of the people went out about the planta- 
tion, in search of fruits ; for there were many peach 
and some ^g trees, standing along the fences, on vari- 
ous parts of the estate. With us, this was a day of 
uninterrupted hapj^iness. 

A man cannot well be miserable when he sees every 
one about him immersed in pleasure ; and though our 
fare of to-day was not of a quality to yield me much 
gratification, yet such was the impulse given to my 
feelings, by the universal hilarity and contentment 
which prevailed amongst my fellows, that I forgot foi 
the time all the subjects of grief that were stored in 



The Life of an American Slave. 



my mcmor}', all the acts of wrong that had been per- 
petrated against me, and entered Avitli the most sin- 
cere and earnest sentiments in the participation of the 
felicity of our community. 



] 



144 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



CHAPTER YIII 



At tlie time of which I now speak, the rice was ripe, 
and ready to be gathered. On Monday morning, after 
our feast, the overseer took the whole of us to the rice 
field, to enter upon the harvest of this crop. The field 
lay in a piece of low ground, near the river, and in 
such a position that it could be flooded by the water 
of the stream, in wet seasons. The rice is planted in 
drills, or rows, and- grows more like oats than any of 
the other grain known in the north. 

The water is sometimes let in to the rice fields, and 
drawn off again, several times, according to the state 
of the weather. Watering and weeding the rice is 
considered one of the most unhealthy occupations on 
a southern plantation, as the people are obliged to live 
for several weeks in the mud and water, subject to all 
the unwholesome vapors that arise from stagnant 
pools, under the rays of a summer sun, as well as the 
chilly autumnal dews of night. At the time we came 
to cut this rice, the field was quite dry ; and after we 



The Life of an American Slave. 155 

and feeling my pulse, lie said, it would not do to skin 
a man so full of blood as I was. I should bleed so 
much that he could not see to do his work ; and ho 
should probably cut some large vein, or artery, by 
which I should bleed to death in a few minutes ; it 
was necessary to bleed rae in tlie arms for some time, 
so as to reduce the quantity of blood, that was in me, 
before taking my skin off. He then bound a string 
round my right arm, and opened a vein near the mid- 
dle of the arm, from which the blood ran in a large 
and smootli stream. I already began to feel ftiint, 
with the loss of blood, wlien the cellar door was 
thrown open, and several persons came down, with 
two liglited candles. 

I looked at these people attentively, as they came 
near and stood around me, and expressed their satis- 
iiiction at the just and dreadful punishment that I 
was about to undergo. Their faces were all new and 
unknowTi to me, except that of a lad, whom I recog- 
nized as the same who had ridden by me, the preced- 
ing evening, in company with his sister. 

My old master spoke to this boy by name, and told 
him to come and see the murderer of his sister receive 
his due. The boy was a pretty youth, and wore his 
hair long, on the top of his head, in the fashion of that 
day. As he came round near my head, the light of a 
candle, which the doctor held in his hand, shone full 



156 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

in my face, and seeing that the eyes of the boy met 
mine, I determined to make one more effort to save 
my life, and said to him, in as calm a tone as I could, 
" Young master, did I murder young mistress, your 
sister ?" The youth immediately looked at my mas- 
ter, and said, " This is not the man — this man has 
short wool, and he had long wool, like your Hardy/' 
My life was saved. I was snatched from the most 
horrible of tortures, and from a slow and painful death. 
I was unbound, the bleeding of my arm stopped, and 
I was suffered to put on my clothes, and go u^) into 
the back yard of the house, where I was required to 
tell what I knew of the young lady and her brother 
on the previous day. I stated that I had seen them 
in the court yard of the house, at the time I was in 
the kitchen ; that I had then gone to the woods, to 
set my snares, and had seen them pass along the road 
near me, and that this was all the knowledge I had of 
them. The boy was then required to examine me 
particularly, and ascertain whether I was, or was not, 
the man who had murdered his sister. He said he had 
not seen me at the place where I stated I was, and 
that he was confident I was not the person who had 
attacked him and his sister. That my hair, or wool, 
as he called it, was short ; but that of the man who 
committed the crime was long, like Hardy's, and that 
he was about the size of Hardy — not so large as I was, 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 157 

l)ut Mack like me, and not yellow like Hardy. Some 
one now asked where Hardy was, and he was called for, 
but could not be found in the kitchen. Persons were 
sent to the quarter, and other places, in quest of him, 
l)ut returned without him. Hardy was nowhere to be 
f«f»nnd. Whilst tliis inquiry, or rather search, was 
going on, perceiving that my old master had ceased to 
look upon me as a murderer, I asked him to please to 
tell mo what liad happened, that had been so near 
proving fatal to me. 

I was now informed that the young lady, who had 
left the house on the previous evening in company with 
her brother, had been assailed on the road, about four 
miles off, by a black man, who had sprung from a 
thicket, and snatched her from her horse, as she was 
riding a ehort distance behind her brother. That the 
assassin, as soon as she was on the ground, struck her 
horse a blow with a long stick, which, together with 
the fright caused by the screams of its rider when torn 
from it, had caused it to fly off at full speed ; and the 
horse of the brother also taking fright, followed in pur- 
suit, notwithstanding all the exertions of the lad to 
stop it. All the account the brother could give of the 
matter was, that as his horse ran with him, he saw the 
negro drag his sister into the woods, and heard her 
screams for a short time. He was not able to stop his 
horse, until he reached home, when he save informa- 



158 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

tion to his mother and her family. That people had 
been scouring the woods all night, and all the morn- 
ing, without being able to find the young lady. 

When intelligence of this horrid crime was brought 
to the house of my master, Hardy was the first to re- 
ceive it ; he having gone to take the horse of the per- 
son — a young gentleman of the neighborhood — who 
bore it, and who immediately returned to join his 
friends in their search for the dead body. 

As soon as the messenger was gone. Hardy had come 
to my master, and told him that if he would prevent 
me from murdering him, he would disclose the perpe- 
trator of the crime. He was then ordered to commu- 
nicate all he knew on the subject ; and declared that, 
having gone into the woods the day before, to hunt 
squirrels, he staid until it was late, and on his return 
home, hearing the shrieks of a woman, he had pro- 
ceeded cautiously to the place ; but before he could 
arrive at the spot, the cries had ceased ; nevertheless, 
he had found me, after some search, with the body of 
the young lady, whom I had just killed, and that I 
was about to kill him too, with a hickory club, but he 
had saved his life by promising that he would never 
betray me. He was glad to leave me, and what I had 
done with the body he did not know. 

Hardy was known in the neighborhood, and his 
character had been good. I was a stranger, and on 



The Life of an Amtrkan Slave. 145 



,, to 



had reaped and bound it, ^ve hauled it upon wagons 
apiece of hard ground, where we made a threshing 
floor, and threshed it. In some places, they tread out 
the rice, with mules or horses, as they tread wheat in 
Maryland ; but this renders the grain dusty, and is in- 
jurious to its sale. 

After getting in the rice, we were occupied for some 
time in clearing and ditching swampy land, prepara- 
tory to a more extended culture of rice the next year ; 
and about the first of August, twenty or thirty of the 
people, principally women and children, were employed 
for two weeks in making cider, of apples which grew 
in an orchard of nearly two hundred trees, that stood 
on a part of the estate. After the cider was made, a 
barrel of it was one day brought to the field, and 
distributed amongst us ; but this gratuity was not 
repeated. The cider that was made by the people 
,as converted into brandy, at a still in the corner of 



was 



the orchard. 

I often obtained cider to drink, at the still, which 
was sheltered from the weather by a shed, of boards 
and slabs. We were not permitted to go into the 
orchard at pleasure ; but as long as the apples contin- 
ued, we were allowed the privilege of sending five or 
six 'persons every evening, for the purpose of bringing 
apples to the quarter, for our common use ; and by 

7 



146 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



taking large baskets, and filling tliem well, we gener- 
ally contrived to get as many as we could consume. 

When the peaches ripened, they were guarded with 
more rigor — peach brandy being an article which is 
nowhere more highly prized than in South Carolina. 
There were on the plantation more than a thousand 
peach trees, growing on poor sandy fields, which were 
no longer worth the expense of cultivation. The best 
peaches grow upon the poorest sand-hills. 

We w^ere allowed to take three bushels of peaches 
every day, for the use of the quarter ; but we could, 
and did eat at least three times that quantity, for we 
stole at night that which was not given us by day. I 
confess that I took part in these thefts, and I do not 
feel that I committed any wrong, against either God 
or man, by my participation in the common danger 
that we ran, for we well knew the consequences that 
would have followed detection. 

After the feast at laying by the corn and cotton, we 
had no meat for several weeks ; and it is my opinion 
that our master lost money by the economy he prac- 
tised at this season of the year. 

I now entered upon a new scene of life. My true 
value had not yet been ascertained by my present 
owner ; and whether I was to hold the rank of a first 
or second rate hand, could only be determined by an 
experience of my ability to pick cotton. 



TJlc Life of an American Slave. 147 

I liad ascertained that at tlie hoe, the spade, tlie 
Bickle, or tlic flail, I was a full match for the hest hands 
on the plantation ; hut soon discovered when we came 
to cotton picking I was not equal to a hoy of fifteen. 
I worked liard the first day, hut when evening came, 
and our cotton was weighed, I had only thirty-eight 
pounds, and was vexed to see that two young men, 
ahout my own ago, had, one fifty-eight, and the other 
fifty-nine pounds. This was our first day's work, and 
the overseer had not yet settled the amount of a day's 
picking. It was necessary for him to ascertain, hy the 
experience of a few days, how much the hest liands 
could pick in a day, before he estabjislied tlic standard 
of the season. I hung down my head, and felt very 
much ashamed of myself when I found that my cotton 
was so far behind that of many, even of the women, 
who had heretofore regarded me as the strongest and 
most powerful man of the whole gang. 

I had exerted myself to-day to the utmost of my 
power ; and as the picking of cotton seemed to be so 
very simple a business, I felt apprehensive that I should 
never be able to improve myself, so far as to become 
even a second rate hand. In this posture of affairs, I 
looked forward to something still more painful than 
the loss of character which I must sustain, both with 
my fellows and my master ; for I knew that the lash 
of the overseer would soon become familiar with my 



148 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

back, if I did not perform as much work as any of the 
other young men. 

I exported indeed that it would go hard with nie 
even now, and stood by with feelings of despondence 
and terror^ vhilst the other people were getting their 
cotton weighed. When it w^as all weighed, the over- 
Geer came to me where I stood, and told me to show 
him my hands. When I had done this, and he had 
looked at them, he observed — " You have a pair of 
good hands — you will make a good picker." This 
faint praise of the overseer revived my spirits greatly, 
and I went home with a lighter heart than I had ex- 
pected to possess, before the termination of cotton- 
picking. 

When I came to get my cotton weighed, on the 
evening of the second day, I was rejoiced to find that 
I had forty- six pounds, although I had not worked 
'aarder than I did the first day. On the third evening 
r had fifty-two pounds ; and before the end of the 
week, there were only three hands in the field — two 
men and a young woman — who could pick more cotton 
in a day than I could. 

On the Monday morning of the second week, when 
w^e went to the field, the overseer told us that he fixed 
the day's work at fifty pounds ; and that all those who 
picked more than that, would be paid a cent a pound 
for the overplus. Twenty-five pounds was assigned as 



Tlic Life of an Aimricrui Slave. 149 



the daily task of the old pcoi^le, as well as a nuniber 
of boys and girls, whilst some of the women, who had 
children, were required to pick forty pounds, and sev- 
eral children had ten pounds each as their task. 

Picking of cotton may almost be reckoned among 
the arts. A man who has arrived at the age of twenty- 
five before he sees a cotton field, will never, in the lan- 
guage of the overseer, become a crack jncJccr, 

By great industry and vigilance, I was able, at the 
end of a month, to return every evening a few pounds 
over the daily rate, for which I received my pay ; but 
the business of picking cotton was a fatiguing labor to 
lilt', and one to which I never became reconciled, for 
the reason that in every other kind of work I was called 
a first rate hand, whilst in cotton picking I was hardly 
regarded as a prime hand. 



150 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or^ 



CHAPTEK IX. 

It is impossible to reconcile the mind of the native 
slave to the idea of living in a state of perfect equality, 
and boundless affection, with the white people. Heaven 
will be no heaven to him, if he is not to be avenged of 
his enemies. I know, from experience, that these are 
the fundamental rules of his religious creed ; because 
I learned them in the religious meetings of the slaves 
themselves. A favorite and kind master or mistress, 
may now and then be admitted into heaven, but this 
rather as a matter of favor, to the intercession of some 
slave, than as matter of strict justice to the whites, 
who will, by no means, be of an equal rank with those 
who shall be raised from the depths of misery, in this 
world. 

The idea of a revolution in the conditions of the 
whites and the blacks, is the corner-stone of the re- 
ligion of the latter ; and indeed, it seems to me, at 
least, to be quite natural, if not in strict accordance 
with the precepts of the Bible ; for in that book I find 



The Life of ail American Slave. 151 



it every where laid down, that those who have possess- 
ed an inordiuate portion of the good things of this , 
world, and have lived in ease and luxury, at the ex- 
pense of their fellow men will surely have to render an 
account of their stewardship, and be punished, for 
having withheld from others the participation of those 
blessings, which they themselves enjoyed. 

There is no subject which presents to the mind of 
the male slave a greater contrast between his own con- 
dition and that of his master, than the relative station 
and appcanuice of his wife and his mistress. The one, 
poorly clad, poorly fed, and osposed to all the hard- 
ships of the cotton field ; the other dressed in clothes 
of gay and various colors, ornamented with jewelry, 
and carefully protected from the rays of the sun, and 
the blasts of the wind. 

As I have before observed, the xVfricans have feelings 
peculiar to themselves ; but with an American slave, 
the possession of the spacious house, splendid furniture, 
and fine horses of his master, are but the secondary 
objects of his desires. To fill the measure of his happi- 
ness, and crown his highest ambition, his young and 
beautiful mistress must adorn his triumph, and enliven 
his hopes. 

I have been drawn into the above reflections, by the 
recollection of an event of a most melancholy character, 
which took place when I had been on this plantation 



152 ^ifiy Years in Chains ; or, 

about three months. Amongst the house-servants of 
my master, was a young man, named Hardy, of a dark 
yellow complexion — a quadroon, or mulatto — one- 
fourth of whose blood was transmitted from white 
parentage. 

Hardy was employed in various kinds of work about 
the house, and was frequently sent of errands ; some- 
times on horseback. I had become acquainted with 
the boy, who had often come to see me at the quarter, 
and had sometimes staid all night with me, and often 
told me of the ladies and gentlemen who visited at 
the great house. 

Amongst others, he frequently spoke of a young 
lady, who resided six or seven miles from the planta- 
tion, and often came to visit the daughter of the family, 
in company mth her brother, a lad about twelve or 
fourteen years of age. He described the great beauty 
of this girl, whose mother was a widow, living on a small 
estate of her own. This lady did not keep a carriage ; 
but her son and daughter, when they went abroad, 
traveled on horseback. 

One Sunday, these two young people came to visit 
at the house of my master, and remained until after 
tea in the evening. As I did not go out to work that 
day, I went over to the great house, and from the 
house to a place in the woods, about a mile distant, 
where I had set snares for rabbits. This place was 



Tlic Life of an American Slave. 153 

near tlie road, and I saw the young lady and her bro- 
ther on their way home. It was after sundown when 
they passed me ; but, as the evening was clear and 
pleasant, I supposed they would get homo soon after 
dark, and tliat no accident would befall tliem. 

No more was thouglit of the matter this evening, 
and I heard nothing further of the young people until 
the next day, about noon, wlien a black boy came into 
the field, where we were picking cotton, and went to 
the overseer with a piece of paper. In a short timo 
the overseer called mo to come with liiiii ; and, leavinir 
tlie field with tlie hands under the orders of Simon, 
the first captain, we proceeded to the great house. 

As soon as we arrived at the mansion, my master, 
wlio liad not spoken to me since the day we came from 
Columbia, appeared at the front door, and ordered me 
to come in and follow him. He led me through a 
part of the house, and passed into the back yard, where 
I saw the young gentleman, his son, another gentlemau 
whom I did not know, the family doctor, and the over- 
seer, all standing together, and in earnest conversation. 
At my appearance, the overseer opened a cellar door, 
and ordered me to go in. I had no suspicion of evil, 
and obeyed the order immediately : as, indeed, I must 
have obeyed it, whatever might have been my suspicions. 

The overseer, and the gentlemen, all followed ; and 
as soon as the cellar door was closed after us, by some 



154 Fifty Yea? s in Cliains ; or, 



one whom I could not sec, I was ordered to pull off my 
clothes, and lie down on my back. I was then bound 
by the hands and feet, with strong cords, and extend- 
ed at full length between two of the beams that sup- 
ported the timbers of the building. 

The stranger, who I now observed was much agita- 
ted, spoke to the doctor, who then opened a small case 
of surgeons' instruments, which he took from his 
pocket, and told me he was going to skin me for what 
I had done last night : " But," said the doctor, " be- 
fore you are skinned, you had better confess your 
crime.'' " What crime, master, shall I confess ? I 
have committed no crime — what has been done, that 
you are going to murder me ?" was my reply. My 
master then asked me why I had followed the young 
lady and her brother, who went from the. house the 
evening before, and murdered her ? Astonished and 
terrified at the charge of being a murderer, I knew not 
what to say ; and only continued the protestations of 
my innocence, and my entreaties not to be put to death. 
My young master was greatly enraged against me, and 
loaded me with maledictions and imprecations ; and 
his father appeared to be as well satisfied as he was of 
my guilt, but was more calm, and less vociferous in 
his language. 

The doctor, during this time, was assorting his in- 
struments, and looking at me — then stooping down, 



Tlic Life of an American Slave. 159 



inquiry, the black people in the kitchen supported 
Uardy, by saying, that I had been seen going to the 
woods before night by the way of the road which the 
deceased had traveled. These circumstances were 
deemed conclusive against mo by my master ; and as 
tlic offence of wliich I was believed to be guilty was 
the highest that can be committed by a slave, accord- 
ing to the opinion of owners, it was determined to 
punish me in a way unknown to the law, and to inflict 
tortures upon me which the law would not tolerate. 
1 was now re-leased, and though very weak from the 
efleets of bleeding, I was yet able to return to my own 
lodgings. 

I had no doubt that Hardy was the perpetrator of 
tlie crime for whieh I was so near losing my life ; and 
now recollected that when I was at the kitchen of the 
great house on Sunday, he had disappeared, a short 
time before sundown, as I had looked for him when I 
was going to set my snares, but .could not find liini. — 
I went back to the house, and communicated this fact 
to my master. 

By this time, nearly twenty white men had collected 
about the dwelling, with the intention of going to 
search for the body of the lost lady ; but it was now 
resolved to make the look-out double, and to give it 
the two-fold character of a pursuit of the living, as well 
as a seeking' for the dead 



160 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



I now returned to my lodgings in the quarter, and 
soon fell into a profound sleep, from which I did not 
iwake until long after night, when all was quiet, and 
the stillness of undisturbed tranquillity prevailed over 
our little community. I felt restless, and sunk into a 
labyrinth of painful reflections, upon the horrid and 
perilous condition from which I had this day escaped, 
as it seemed, merely by chance ; and as I slept until 
all sensations of drowsiness had left me, I rose from 
my bed, and walked out by the light of the moon, 
which was now shining. After being in the open air 
some time, I thought of the snares I had set on Sun- 
day evening, and determined to go and see if they had 
taken any game. I sometimes caught oppossums in 
my snares ; and, as these animals were very fat at this 
season of the year, I felt a hope that I might be fortu- 
nate enough to get one to-night. I had been at my 
snares, and had returned, as far as the road, near 
where I had seen the young lady and her brother on 
horseback on Sunday evening, and had seated myself 
under the boughs of a holly bush that grew there. It 
so happened that the place where I sat was in the 
shade of the bush, within a few feet of the road, but 
screened from it by some small boughs. In this posi- 
tion, which I had taken by accident, I could see a 
great distance along the road, towards the end of my 
master's lane. Though covered as I was by the shade, 



The Life of an American Slave. 161 

and enveloped in boughs, it was diilicuU for a person 
in the road to see me. 

The occurrence that had befallen me, in the course 
of the previous day, had rendered me nervous, and 
easily susceptible of all the emotions of fear. I had 
not been long in this place, when I thought I lio;inl 
sounds, as of a person walking on the ground at a qwk-k 
inacc ; and looking along the road, towards the lane I 
saw tlie funn of some one, passing through a space in 
the road, where the beams of the moon, piercing be- 
tween two trees, reached the ground. When the mov- 
ing body i)assed into the shade, I could not see it ; but 
in a short time, it came so near that I could distinctly 
see tliat it was a man, approaching me by the road. 
When he came opposite me, and the moon shone full 
in liis face, I knew him to be a young mulatto, named 
David, the coachman of a widow lady, who resided 
somewhere near Charleston ; but who had been at the 
house of my master, for two or three weeks, as a visiter, 
with her two daughters. 

This man passed on at a quick step, mthout observ- 
ing me ; and the suspicion instantly riveted itself in my 
mind, that he was the murderer, for whose crime I had 
already suITered so much, and that he was now on his 
way to the place where he had kft the body, for the 
purpose of removing, or burying it in the earth. I was 
confident, that no honest purpose could bring him to 



162 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



this place, at this time of night, alone. I was about 
two miles from home, and an equal distance from the 
spot where the girl had been seized. 

Of her subsequent murder, no one entertained a 
doubt ; for it was not to be expected, that the fellow 
who had been guilty of one great crime, would flinch 
from the commission of another, of equal magnitude, 
and suffer his victim to exist, as a witness to identify 
his person. 

I felt animated, by a spirit of revenge, against the 
wretch, whoever he might be, who had brought me so 
near to torture and death ; and feeble and weak as I 
was, resolved to pursue the foot-steps of this coachman, 
at a wary and cautious distance, and ascertain, if pos- 
sible, the object of his visit to these woods, at this 
time of night. 

I waited until he had passed me more than a hun- 
dred yards, and until I could barely discover his form 
in the faint light of the deep shade of the trees, when 
stealing quietly into the road, I followed, with the 
caution of a spy traversing the camp of an enemy. — 
We were now in a dark pine forest, and on both sides 
of us were tracts of low, swampy ground, covered with 
thickets so dense as to be difficult of penetration even 
by a person on foot. The road led along a neck of 
elevated and dry ground, that divided these swamps 
for more than a mile, when they terminated, and were 



The Life of an American Slave. 163 

succeeded by ground that produced scarcely any other 
timber than a scrubby kind of oak, called black jack. 
It was amongst these black jacks, about half a mile 
beyond the sVamps, that the lady had been carried off. 
I liad often been here, for the purpose of snaring and 
trapping the small game of these woods, and was well 
acquainted with the topography of this forest, for some 
distance, on both sides of the road. 

It was necessary for me to use the utmost caution 
in the enterprise I was now engaged in. The road 
we were now traveling, was in no place very broad, and 
at some points barely wide enough to permit a carriage 
to pass between the trees, that lined its sides. In some 
places, it was so dark that I could not see the man, 
whose steps I followed ; but was obliged to depend on 
the sound, produced by the tread of his feet, upon the 
ground. I deemed it necessary to keep as close as 
possible to the object of my pursuit, lest he should 
suddenly turn into the swamp, on one side or the other 
of the road, and elude my vigilance ; for I had no 
doubt that he would quit the road, somewhere. As 
we approached the termination of the low grounds, my 
anxiety became intense, lest he should escape me ; and 
at one time, I could not have been more than one hun- 
dred feet behind him ; but he continued his course, 
until he reached the oak woods, and came to a place 
where an old cart-road led off to the left, along the side 



164 Fifty Years in Chcuns ; or, 



of the Dark Swamp, as it was termed in the neigh- 
borhood. 

This road the mulatto took, without turning to 
look behind him. Here my difficulties tmd perils in- 
creased, for 1 now felt myself in danger, as I had no 
longer any doubt, that I was on the trail of the mur- 
derer, and that, if discovered by him, my life would be 
the price of my curiosity. I was too weak to be able 
to struggle with him, for a minute ; though if the 
blood which I had lost, through his wickedness, could 
have been restored to my veins, I could have seized 
him by the neck, and strangled him. 

The road I now had to travel, was so little frequen- 
ted, that bushes of the ground oak and bilberry stood 
thick in almost every part of it. Many of these 
bushes were full of dry leaves, which had been touch- 
ed by the frost, but had not yet fallen. It was easy 
for me to follow him, for I pursued by the noise he 
made, amongst these bushes ; but it was not so easy 
for me to avoid, on my part, the making of a rustling, 
and agitation of the bushes, which might expose me 
to detection. I was now obliged to depend wholly on 
my ears, to guide my pursuit, my eyes being occupied 
in watching my own way, to enable me to avoid every 
object, the touching of which was likely to produce 

sound. 

I followed this road more than a mile, led by the 



The Life of an American Slave. 165 

cracking of the sticks, or tlie shaking of the leaves. 
At length, I heard a loud, shrill whistle, and then a 
total silence succeeded. I now stood still, and in a 
few seconds, heard a noise in the swamp like the 
drumming of a pheasant. Soon afterwards, I heard 
tlie breaking of sticks, and the sounds caused by the 
bendinir of branches of trees. In a little time, I was 
satisfied that something having life was moving in the 
swamp, and coming towards tlie place where the mu- 
latto stood. 

This was at the end of tlie cart-road, and opposite 
some large pine trt'cs, which grew in the swamji, at 
the distance of two or three hundred yards from its 
margin. The noise in the swamp still approached us ; 
and at length a person came out of the thicket, and 
stood for a minute, or more, with the mulatto whom I 
had followed ; and then they both entered the swamp, 
and took the course of the pine trees, as I could easily 
distinguish by my ears. 

When they were gone, I advanced to the end of the 
road, and sat down upon a log, to listen to their pro- 
gress through the swamp. At length, it seemed that 
they had stopped, for I no longer heard any thing of 
them. Anxious, however, to ascertain more of this 
mysterious business, I remained in silence on the log, 
determined to stay there until day, if I could not soon- 
er learn something to satisfy me, why these men had 



166 ^ifty Years in Chains ; or, 

gone into the swamp. All uncertainty upon this sub- 
ject was, however, quickly removed from my mind ; 
for within less than ten minutes, after I had ceased 
to hear them moving in the thicket, I was shocked 
by the faint, but shrill wailings of a female voice, ac- 
companied with exclamations and supplications, in a 
tone so feeble that I could only distinguish a few 
solitary words. 

My mind comprehended the whole ground of this 
matter, at a glance. The lady supposed to have been 
murdered on Sunday evening, was still living ; and 
concealed by the two fiends who had passed out of my 
sight but a few minutes before. The one I knew, for 
I had examined his features, within a few feet of .me, 
in the full light of the moon ; and, that the other was 
Hardy, I was as perfectly convinced, as if I had seen 
him also. 

I now rose to return home ; the cries of the female 
in the swamp still continuing, but growing weaker, 
and dying away, as I receded from the place where I 
had sat. 

I was now in possession of the clearest evidence of 
the guilt of 'lie two murderers ; but I was afraid to 
communicate my knowledge to my master, lest he 
should susj)ect me of being an accomplice in this crime ; 
and, if the lady could not be recovered alive, I had no 
doubt that Hardy and his companion were sufficient- 



The Life of an American Slave. 1C7 



ly depraved to cliarge me as a participation with them- 
selves, to be avenged upon me. I was confident that 
the mulatto, David, would return to tlie house before 
day, and be found in his bed in the morning ; which 
he could easily do, for he slept in a part of tlie stable 
loft ; under pretence of being near the horses of his 
mistress. 

I tliought it possible, that Hardy might also return 
home that night, and endeavor to account for his 
absence from liome on Monday afternoon, by some in- 
genious lie ; in the invention of which I knew him to 
be very expert. In this case, I saw that I should have 
to run the risk of being overpowered by the number 
of my false accusers ; and, as I stood alone, they 
might yet be able to sacrifice my life, and escape the 
punishment due to their crimes. After much consid- . 
eration, I came to the resolution of returning, as quick 
as possible, to the quarter— calling up the overseer— 
and acquainting him with all that I had seen, heard, 
and done, in the course of this night. 

As I did not know what time of night it was when 
I left my bed, I was apprehensive that day might 
break before I could so far mature my plans as to have 
persons to waylay and arrest the mulatto on his return 
home ; but when I roused the overseer, he told me it 
was only one o'clock, and seemed but little inclined to 
credit my story ; but, after talking to me several 



168 Fifhj Years in Chains ; or, 



minutes he told me lie, now more than ever, suspect- 
ed me to be the murderer, but he would go with me 
and see if I had told the truth. When w^e arrived 
at the great house, some members of the family had 
not yet gone to bed, having been kej^t up by the arri- 
val of several gentlemen who had been searching the 
woods all day for the lost lady, and who had come 
here to seek lodgings when it was near midnight. 
My master was in bed, but was called up and listened 
attentively to my story — at the close of which he shook 

his head, and said with an oath, " You , I believe 

you to be the murderer ; but we will go and see if all 

you say is a lie ; if it is, the torments of will bo 

pleasure to w^hat awaits you. You have escaped once, 
but you will not get off a second time." I now found 
that somebody must die ; and if the guilty could not 
be found, the innocent w^ould have to atone for them. 
The manner in which my master had delivered his 
words, assured me that the life of somebody must be 
taken. 

This new danger aroused my energies— -and I told 
them that I w^as ready to go, and take the conse- 
quences. Accordingly, the overseer, my young master, 
and three other gentlemen, immediately set out with 
me. It was agreed that we should all travel on foot, 
the overseer and I going a few paces in advance of the 
others. We proceeded silently, but rapidly, on our 



The Life of an American Slave. 169 

way ; and as we passed it, I shewed them the place 
where I sat under the holly bush, when the mulatto 
l)assed me. We neitlior saw nor heard any person on 
the road, and readied tlie log at the end of the cart- 
road, where I sat wlien I lioard the cries in the swamp. 
All was now quiet, and our party lay down in the 
bushes on each side of a large gum tree, at the root of 
which tlie two murderers stood when they talked to- 
gether, before they entered tlie thicket. We had not 
been here niorc tliaii an lidir, wlicn I lieard, as I lay 
with my head near the ground, a noise in the swamp, 
which I believed could only be made by those whom 
we sought. 

I, however, said nothing, and the gentlemen did not 
hear it. It was caused, as I afterwards ascertained, 
by dran;ging the fallen branch of a tree along the 
ground, for the purpose of lighting the fire. 

The night was very clear and serene — its silence 
only being broken at intervals by the loud hooting of 
the great long-eared owls, which are numerous in these 
swamps. I felt oppressed by the coldj and was glad 
to hear the crowing of a cock, at a great distance, 
announcing the approach of day. This "was followed, 
after a short interval, by the cracking of sticks, and by 
other tokens, which I knew could proceed only from 
the motions of living bodies. I now whispered to the 

8 



170 Fifty Years in (JJiains ; or, 

overseer, who lay near me, that it would soon appear 
whether I had spoken the truth or not. 

All were i^ow satisfied that people were coming out 
of the swamp, for we heard them speak to each other. 
I desired the overseer to advise the other gentlemen to 
let the culprits come out of the swamp, and gain tlie 
high ground, before we attempted to seize them ; but 
this counsel was, unfortunately, not taken ; and w hun 
they came near to the gum tree, and it could be clearly 
seen that there were two men and no more, one of the 
gentlemen called oat to them to stop, or they were 
dead. Instead, however, of stopping, they both sprang 
forward, and took to flight. They did not turn into 
the swamp, for the gentleman who ordered them to 
stop, was in their rear — they having already passed 
him. At the moment they had started to run, each 
of the gentlemen fired two pistols at them. The pis- 
tols made the forest ring on all sides ; and I supposed 
it was impossible for either of the fugitives to escape 
from so many balls. This was, however, not the case ; 
for only one of them was injured. The mulatto, 
David, had one arm and one leg broken, and fell about 
ten yards from us ; but Hardy escaped, and when the 
smoke cleared away, he was nowhere to be seen. On 
being interrogated, David acknowledged that the lady 
was in the swamp, on a small island, and was yet alive 
— that he and Hardy had gone from the house on Sun- 



The Life of an American Slave. 171 

day, for the purpose of waylaying and carrying her off, 
and intended to kill her little brother — this part of the 
duty being assigned to him, whilst Hardy was to drag 
the sister from her horse. As they were both mulat- 
tos, they blacked their faces with charcoal, taken from 
a i»ine stump partially burned. The boy was riding 
before his sister, and wlien Hardy seized her and drag- 
ged her from her horse, she screamed and frightened 
both the horses, which took off at full speed, by which 
means the boy escaped. Finding that the boy was out 
of his reach, David remained in the buslies until Hardy 
brought the sister to him. They immediately tied a 
handkerchief round her face, so as to cover her mouth 
and stifle her shrieks ; and taking her in their arms, 
carried her back toward my master's house, for some 
distance, through the woods, until they came to tho 
cart-road leading along the swamp. They then fol- 
lowed this road as far as it led, and, turning into the 
swamp, took their victim to a place they had prepared 
for her the Sunday before, on a small knoll in the 
swamp, where the ground was dry. 

Her hands were closely confined, and she w^as tied 
by the feet to a tree.' He said he had stolen some 
bread, ami taken it to her that night ; but when they 
unbound her mouth to permit her to eat, she only 
wept anc mad^B a noise, begging them to release her, 
until they were obliged again to bandage her mouth. 



172 Fifhj Years in Chains ; or, 

It was now- determined by the gentlemen, that as 
the lady was still alive, we ought not to lose a moment 
in endea^'oring to rescue her from her dreadful situa- 
tion. I pointed out the large i:)ine trees, in the direc- 
tion of which I heard the cries of the young lady, and 
near which I believed she was — undertaking, at the 
same time, to act as j)ilot, in penetrating the thicket. 
Three of the gentlemen and myself accordingly set 
out, leavinsf the other two with the wounded mulatto 
with directions ta inform us when we deviated from a 
right line to the j^ine trees. This they were able to 
do by attending to the noise we made, with nearly as 
much accuracy as if they had seen us. 

The atmosphere had now become a little cloudy, 
and the morning was very dark, even in the oak woods ; 
but when we had entered the thickets of the swamp, 
all objects became utterly invisible ; and the obscurity 
was as total as if our eyes had been closed. Our com- 
panions on the dry ground lost sight of the pine trees, 
and could not give us any directions in our journey. 
We became entangled in briers, and vines, and mats 
of bushes, from which the greatest exertions were 
necessary to disengage ourselves. 

It was so dark, that we could not see the fallen 
trees ; and, missing these, fell into quagmires, and 
sloughs of mud and water, into which we sunk up to 
the arm-pits, and from which we were able to extricate 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 173 



ourselves, only by seizing upon the hanging branches 
of the surrounding trees. After struggling in this 
half-drowned condition, for at least a^ quarter of an 
hour, we reached a small dry spot, where the gentle- 
men again held a council, as to ulterior measures. 
They called to those left on the shore, to know if wc 
were proceeding toward the pine trees ; but received 
for answer that the pines were invisible, and they knew 
not whether we were riglit or wrong. In this state of 
uncertainty, it was thought most prudent to wait the 
coming of day, in our present resting-place. 

The air was frosty, and in our wet clothes, loaded 
as we were with mud, it may be imagined that oui 
feelings were not pleasant ; and when tlie day broke, 
it brought us but little relief, for we found, as soon as 
it was light enough to enable us to see around, that 
we were on one of those insulated dry spots, called 'Hus- 
socks" by the people of the South. These tussocks 
are formed by clusters of small trees, which, taking root 
in the mud, are, in process of time, surrounded by long 
grass, which, entwining its roots with those of the trees^ 
overspread and cover the surface of the muddy founda- 
tion, by which the superstructure is supported. These 
tussocks are often several yards in diameter. That 
upon which we now were, stood in the midst of a great 
miry pool, into which we were again obliged to Lunch 
ourselves, and struggle onward for a distance of ten 



174 Fifty Years in Chains] or, 



yards, before we readied tlie line of some fallen and 
decaying trees. 

It was now Lroad dayliglit, and we saw the pine 
trees, at the distance of about a hundred yards from 
us ; but even with the assistance of the light, we had 
great difficulty in reaching them, — to do which we 
were comiielled to travel at least a quarter of a mile 
by the angles and curves of the Mien timber, upon 
which alone we could walk ; this part of the swamp 
being a vast half-fluid bog. 

It was sunrise when we reached the pines, which we 
found standing upon a small islet of firm ground, con- 
taining, as well as I could judge, about half an acre, 
covered with a heavy growth of white maples, swamp 
oaks, a few large pines, and a vast mat of swamp lau- 
rel, called in the South ivy. I had no doubt that 
the object of our search was somewhere on this little 
island ; but small as it was, it was no trifling affair 
to give every part of it a minute examination, for the 
stems and branches of the ivy were so minutely inter- 
woven with each other, and spread along the ground 
in so many curves and crossings, that it was impossi- 
ble to proceed a single rod without lying down and 
creeping along the earth. 

The gentlemen agreed, that if any one discovered 
the young lady, he should immediately call to the 
others ; and we all entered the thicket. I, however, 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 175 

turned along the edge of the island, with the inten- 
tion of making its circuit, for the purpose of tracing, 
if possible, the footsteps of those who had passed be- 
tween it and the main shore. I made my way more 
tlian lialf round the island, without much difficulty, 
and witliout discovering any signs of persons having 
been here before me ; but in crossing the trunk of a 
large tree which had fallen, and the top of which ex- 
tended far into tlic ivy, I j)erceived some stains of 
mud on tlie hark of the log. Looking into the swamp, 
I saw that the root of this tree was connected with 
other fallen timber, extending beyond the reach of my 
vision, which was obstructed by the bramble of the 
Bwamp, and the numerous evergreens growing here. 
I now advanced along the trunk of the tree until I 
reached its topmost branches, and here discovered 
evident signs of a small trail, leading into the thicket 
of ivy. Creeping along and following this trail by the 
small bearberry bushes that had been trampled down, 
and had not again risen to an erect position, I was led 
almost across the island, and found that the small 
bushes were discomposed quite up to the edge of a 
vast heap of the branches of evergreen trees, produced 
by the falling of several large juniper cypress trees, 
which grew in the swamp in a cluster, and having 
been blown down, had fallen with their tops athwart 
each other, and upon the almost impervious mat of 



176 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

ivies, with which the surface of the island was coated 
over. 

I stood and looked at this mass of entangled green 
bush, but could not perceive the slightest marks of 
any entrance into its labyrinths ; nor did it seem pos- 
sible for any creature, larger than a squirrel, to pene- 
trate it. It now for the first time struck me as a 
great oversight in the gentlemen, that they had not 
compelled the mulatto, David, to describe the place 
where they had concealed the lady ; and, as the forest 
was so dense that no communication could be had 
with the shore, either by word or signs, we could not 
now procure any information on this subject. I there- 
fore called to the gentlemen, who were on the island 
with me, and desired them to come to me without 
delay. 

Small as this island was, it was after the lapse of 
many minutes that the overseer and the other gentle- 
men arrived where I stood ; and when they came, 
they would have been the subjects of mirthful emo- 
tions, had not the tragic circumstances in which I was 
placed, banished from my heart every feeling but that 
of the most profound melancholy. 

When the gentlemen had assembled, I informed 
them of signs of footsteps that I had traced from the 
other side of the island ; and told them that I be- 
lieved the young lady lay somewhere under the heap 



The Life of an American Slave. 177 



of brusliwood before us. This oinnion obtained but 
little credit, because there was no oj^iening in the brush 
by which any one could enter it ; but on going a few 
paces round the heap, I perceived a small, snaggy 
pole resting on the brush, and nearly concealed by it, 
with the lower end stuck in the ground. The branches 
liad been cut from this pole at the distance of three 
or four inclios from tlie main stem, which made it a 
tolerable substitute for a ladder. I immediately as- 
cended the pole, which led me to the top of the pile, 
and here I discovered an opening in the brush, between 
the forked top of one of the cypress trees, tlirough 
which a man might easily pass. Applying my head 
to this aperture, I distinctly heard a quick and labo- 
rious breathing, like that of a person in extreme ill- 
ness ; and again called the gentlemen to follow me. 

When they came up the ladder, the breathing was 
audible to all ; and one of the gentlemen, whom I 
now perceived to be the stranger, who was with us in 
my master's cellar, when I was bled, slid down into 
the dark and narrow passage, without uttering a word. 
I confess that some feelings of trepidation passed 
through my nerves when I stood alone ; but now that 
a leader had preceded me, I 'followed, and glided 
through the smooth and elastic cypress tops, to the 
bottom of this vast labyrinth of green boughs. 

When I reached the ground, I found myself in con- 
8* 



178 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

tact with tlie irentleman who was in advance of me, 
and near one end of a hirge concave, oblong, open 
space, formed by the branches of the trees, having 
been supported and ke2:)t above the ground, partly by 
a cluster of verv lar^'c and strono; ivies, that irrew here, 
and j)artly by a young gum tree, which had been bent 
into the form of an arch by 'the falling timber. 

Though we could not see into this leafy cavern from 
above, yet when we had been in it a few moments, we 
had light enough to see the objects around us with 
tolerable clearness ; but that which surprised us both 
greatly was, that the place was totally silent, and we 
could not perceive the appearance of any living thing, 
except ourselves. 

After we had been here some minutes, our vision 
became still more distinct ; and I saw, at the othei 
end of the open space, ashes of wood, and some extin- 
guished brands, but there was no smoke. Going to 
these ashes, and stirring them with a stick, I found 
coals of fire carefully covered over, in a hole six or 
eight inches deep. 

When he saw the fire, the gentleman spoke to me, 
and expressed his astonishment that we heard the 
breathing no longer ; but he had scarcely uttered these 
words, when a faint groan, as of a woman in great 
pain, was heard to issue apparently from the ground ; 
but a motion of branches on our ridit assured me that 



Tlie Life of cm American Slave. 179 



the sufferer was concealed there. The gentleman 
sjM'ung to the spot, pushed aside the p(;ndant houghs, 
stooped low beneath the bent ivies, and came out, 
bearing in liis liands a delicate female figure. As he 
turned round, and exposed her half-closed eye and 
white f.reliead to the light, he exclaimed, "Eternal 
God ! ;Maria, is it you ?'' He then pressed her to his 
bosom, and sunk upon the ground, still holding her 
closely in his embrace. 

The lady lay motionless in his arms, and I thouMit 
she was dead. Her hair hung matted and dishevelled 
from her head ; a handkerchief, once white, but now 
soiled with dust, and stained with blood, was bound 
firmly round her head, covering her mouth and chin, 
and was flistened at the back of the neck, by a double 
knot, and secured by a ligature of cypress bark. 

I knew not whom most to pity — the lady, who now 
lay insensible in the arms that still clasped her ten- 
derly ; or the unhappy gentleman, who having cut the 
cords from her limbs, and the handkerchief from her 
face, now sat and silently gazed upon her death-like 
countenance. He uttered not a sigh, and moved not 
a joint, but his breast heaved with agony ; the sinews 
and muscles of his neck rose and fell, like those of a 
man in convulsions ; all the lineaments of his face 
were, alternately, contracted and expanded, as if his 
last moments were at hand ; whilst great drops of 



180 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

sweat rolled clown his forehead, as though he struggled 
against an enemy whose strength was more than human. 

Oj)pressed by the sight of so much wretchedness, I 
turned from its contemplation, and called aloud to the 
gentlemen without (who had all this time been wait- 
ing to hear from us) to come uj) the ladder to the top 
of the pile of boughs. The overseer was quickly at the 
top of the opening, by which I had descended ; and I 
now informed him that we had found the lady. He 
ordered me to hand her up — and I desired the gentle- 
man who was with me to permit me to do so, but this 
he refused — and mounting the boughs of the fallen 
trees, and supporting himself by the strong branches 
of the ivies, he quickly reached the place where the 
overseer stood. 

He even here refused to part from his charge, but 
bore her down the ladder alone. He was, however, 
obliged to acTcept aid, in conveying her through the 
swamp to the place where we had left the two gentle- 
men with the wounded mulatto, whose sufferings, de- 
mon as he was, were sufficient to move the hardest 
heart. His right arm and left leg were broken, and 
he had lost much blood before we returned from the 
island ; and as he could not walk, it was necessary to 
carry him home. We had not brought any horses, and 
until the lady was recovered, no one seemed to think 
any more about the mulatto after he was shot down 



The Life of an American Slave. ISl 



It was proi^osed to send for a horse to take David 
liume ; but it was finally agreed that we sliould leave 
him in the woods, where he was, until a man could be 
sent for him witli a cart. At the time wc left him, 
his groans and lamentations seemed to excite no sym- 
i)athy in tlie breast of any. More cruel sufferings yet 
awaited him. 

The lady was carried liome in the arms of the gen- 
tlemen ; and .-Ik^ did not speak, until after she was 
bathiMl and put to bed in my master's house, as I 
afterwards laard. I know she did not speak on the 
way. She died on the fourth day after her rescue, and 
before her death related the circumstances of her mis- 
fortune, as I was told by a colored woman, who attend- 
ed her in her illness, in the following manner : 

As she was riding in the dusk of the evening, at a 
rapid trot, a few yards behind her brother, a black 
man sprang from behind a tree standing close by the 
side of the road ; seized her by her riding dress, and 
dragged her to the ground, but failed to catch the 
bridle of the horse, which sprang off at full speed.— 
Another negro immediately came to the aid of the 
first, and said, "I could not catch him— we must 
make haste.^' They carried her as flist as they could 
go to the place where we found her, Avhen they bound 
her hands, feet and mouth, and left her until the next 
night; and had left her the second morning, only a 



182 Fifty Years in CJialns ; or, 

few minuteSj when she heard the re2)ort of guns. Soon 
after this, hy great efforts, she extricated one of her 
feet from the bark with which she was bound ; but 
finding herself too weak to stand, she crawled, as far 
as she could, under the boughs of the trees, hoping 
that when her assassins returned again they would not 
be able to find her, and that she might there die alone. 

Exhausted by the efforts she had made to remove 
herself, she fell into the stupor of sleep, from which 
she was aroused by the noise we made when we de- 
scended into the cavern. She then, supposing us to 
be her destroyers returned again, lay still, and breathed 
as softly as possible, to prevent us from hearing her ; 
but when she heard the voice of the gentleman who 
was with me, the tones of which were fiimiliar to her, 
she groaned and moved her feet, to let us know where 
she was. This exertion, and the idea of her horrid 
condition, overcame the strength of her nerves ; and 
when her deliverer raised her from the ground she had 
swooned, and was unconscious of all things. 

We had no sooner arrived at the house, than inquiry 
^vas made for Hardy ; but it was ascertained in the 
kitchen, that he had not been seen since the previous 
evening, at night-fall, when lie had left the kitchen for 
the purpose of going to sleep at the stable with David, 
as he had told one of the black women ; and prepara- 
tion was immediately made to go in pursuit of him. 



The Life of an American Slave. 183 

For this purpose all the gentlemen present equipped 
themselves with pistols, fowling pieces, and horns — 
such as are used by fox hunters. Messengers were 
despatched round the country, to give notice to all the 
])lanters, witliin the distance of many miles, of the 
crime that had been committed, and of the escape of 
one of its perpetra.tors, with a request to them to come 
without delay, and join in the pursuit, intended to be 
fivon. Those wlio had doers, trained to chase thieves, 
were desired to bring tliem ; and a gentleman who 
lived twelve miles off, and who owned a blood-hound, 
was sent for, and requested to come with his dog, in 
all haste. 

In consequence, I suppose, of the information I had 
given, I was permitted to be present at these delibera- 
tions, and though my advice was not asked, I was 
often interrogated, concerning my knowledge of the 
affair. Some proposed to go at once, with dogs and 
horses, into the woods, and traverse the swamp and 
thickets, for the purpose of rousing Hardy from the 
place of concealment he might have chosen ; but the 
opinion of the overseer prevailed, who thought, that 
from the intimate knowledge possessed by him, of all 
the swamps and coverts in the neighborhood, there 
would be little hope of discovering him in this man- 
ner. The overseer advised them to wait the coming of 
the gentleman with his blood-hound, before they en- 



184 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 

terecl the woods ; for the reason, that if the blood hound 
could be made to take the trail, he would certainly find 
his game, before he quit it, if not thrown off the scent 
by the men, horses, and dogs ci'ossing his course ; but 
if the blood hound could not take the scent, they might 
then adopt the projDOsed plan of pursuit, with as much 
success as at present. This counsel being adopted, the 
horses were ordered into the stable ; and the gentle- 
men entered the house to take their breakfast, and 
wait the arrival of the blood hound. 

JSTothing was said of the mulatto, David, who seemed 
to be forgotten — not a word being spoken by any one 
of bringing him from the woods. I knew that he was 
suffering the most agonizing pains, and great as were 
his crimes, his groans and cries of anguish still seemed 
to echo in my ears ; but I was afraid to make any ap- 
plication in his behalf, lest, even yet, I might be sus- 
pected of some participation in his offences ; for I 
knew that the most horrid punishments were often 
inflicted upon slaves merely on suspicion. 

As the morning advanced, the number of men and 
horses in front of my master's mansion increased ; and 
before ten o'clock I think there were, at least, fifty of 
each — the horses standing hitched and the men con- 
versing in groups without, or assembled together with- 
in the house. 

At length the owner of the blood hound came, bring- 



The Life nf on American Slave, 185 



ing with liim liis dog, in a chaise, drawn hy one horse. 
The harness was removed from the horse, its place 
supplied by a saddle and bridle, and the whole party 
set off for the woods. As they rode away, my master, 
who was on<' of the company, told me to follow them ; 
but we liad proceeded only a little distance, when the 
gentlemen stopped, and my master, after speaking with 
the owner of the dog, told the overseer to go back to 
the house, and get some piece of the clothes of Hardy, 
that had b.-cn wmn by liiru lately. The overseer re- 
turned, an<l we all proceeded forward to the place where 
David lay. 

We found him wliore we had left him, greatly weak- 
ened by the loss of blood, and complaining that the 
cold air caused his wounds to smart intolerably. When 
I came near him, he looked at me and told me I had 
betrayed him. None of the gentlemen seemed at all 
moved by his sufferings, and when any of them spoke 
to him it was with derision, and ever}- epithet of scorn 
and contumely. As it was apparent that he could not 
escape, no one proposed to remove him to a place of 
greater safety ; but several of the horsemen, as they 
passed, lashed him with the thongs of their whips ; 
but I do not believe he felt these blows— the pain ho 
endured from his wounds being so great as to drown 
the sensation of such minor afflictions. 

The day had already become warm, although the 



18G Fiftij Years in Chains ; or, 



niglit had been cold ; the sun shone with great clear- 
ness, and many carrion crows, attracted by the scent 
of blood, were joerched upon the trees near where we 
now were. 

When the overseer came up with us, he brought an 
old blanket, in which Hardy had slept for some time, 
and handed it to the owner of the dog ; who, having 
first caused the hound to smell of the blanket, untied 
the cord in which he had been led, and turned him 
into the woods. The dog went from us fifty or sixty 
yards, in a right line, then made a circle around us, 
again commenced his circular movement, and pursued 
it nearly half round. Then he dropped his nose to 
the ground, snuffed the tainted surface, and moved off 
through the wood slowly, almost touching the earth 
with his nose. The owner of the dog and twelve or 
fifteen others followed him, whilst the residue of the 
party dispersed themselves along the ed^Q of the 
swamp, and the overseer ordered me to stay and watch 
the horses of those who dismounted, going himself on 
foot in the pursuit. 

When the gentlemen were all gone out of sight, I 
went to David, who lay all this time within my view, 
for the purpose of asking him if I could render him 
any assistance. He begged me to bring him some wa- 
ter, as he wns dying of thirst, no less than with the 
pain of his wounds. One of the horsemen had left a 



The Life of on American Slave. 1S7 



large tin horn hanging on his saddle ; this I took, and 
stopping the small end closely with leaves, filled it 
with water from the swamp, and gave it to the wound- 
ed man, wlio drank it, and then turning his head to- 
wards me, said :— '^lardy and I had laid a jilan to 
have this thing hrought upon you, and to have you 
hung for it— hut you have escaped." He then asked 
me if they intended to leave him to die in the woods, 
or to take him home and hang him. I told him I liad 
heard them talk of taking Iiim Imme in a cart, hut 
wliat was to he done with him I did not know. I felt 
a horror of the crimes committed hy this man ; was 
pained hy the sight of his sufferings, and heing unahle 
to relieve the one, or to forgive the other, went to a 
place where I could neither see nor hear him, and sat 
down to await the return of those wlio had gone in 
the pursuit of Ilardy. 

In the circumstances which surrounded me, it can- 
not he supposed that my feelings were pleasant, or 
that time moved very fleetly ; hut painful as my situ- 
ation was, I was ohliged to hear it for many hours. 
From the time the gentlemen left me, I neither saw 
nor heard them, until late in the afternoon, when five 
or six of them returned, having lost their companions 
in the Avoods. 

Toward sundown, I heard a great noiteC of horns 
hlown, and of men shouting at a distance in the forest ; 



188 FifUj Years in Chains ; or, 



and soon after, my master, the owner of the blood 
hound, and many others returned, bringing with them 
Hardy, whom the hound had followed ten or twelve 
miles through the swamps and thickets ; had at last 
caught him, and would soon have killed him, had he 
not been compelled to relinquish his prey. When the 
party had all returned, a kind of court w\as held in 
the woods, where we then were, for the purpose of 
determining what punishment should be inflicted upon 
Hardy and David. All agreed at once, that an ex- 
ample, of the most terrific character ought to be made 
of such atrocious villains, and that it would defeat the 
ends of justice to deliver these fellows up to the civil 
authority, to be hanged like common murderers. The 
next measure was to settle upon the kind of punish- 
ment to be inflicted upon them, and the manner of 
executing the sentence. 

Hardy was, all this time, sitting on the ground 
covered with blood, and yet bleeding profusely, ii 
hearing of his inexorable judges. The dog had man 
gled both his arms and hands in a shocking manner ; 
torn a large piece of flesh entirely away from one side 
of his breast, and sunk his fangs deep in the side of 
his neck. No other human creature that I have ever 
seen presented a more deplorable spectacle of mingled 
crime and cruelty. 

It was now growing late, and the fate of these mis- 



The Life of an Amei'ican Slave. 189 

erable men was to be decided before the comj-tany sep- 
arated to go to their several homes. One proposed to 
burn them, another to flay them alive, and a third to 
starve them to death, and many other modes of slowly 
and tormentingly extinguishing life were named ; but 
that which was finally adopted was, of all others, the 
most horrible. The wretches were unanimously sen- 
tenced to be stripped naked, and bound down securely 
upon their backs, on the naked earth, in sight of each 
other ; to have their mouths closely covered with ban- 
dages, to prevent them from making a noise to frighten 
away the birds, and in this manner to be left to be 
devoured alive by the carrion crows and buzzards, 
w^hich swarm in every part of South Carolina. 

The sentence was instantly carried into effect, so 
far as its execution depended on us. Hardy and his 
companion were divested of their clothes, stretched 
upon their backs on the ground ; their mouths ban- 
daged with handkerchiefs — their limbs extended — 
and these, together with their necks, being crossed by 
numerous poles, were kept close to the earth by forked 
sticks driven into the ground, so as to prevent the 
possibility of moving any part of their persons ; and 
in this manner these wicked men were left to be torn 
in pieces by birds of prey. The buzzards and carrion 
crows, always attack dead bodies by pulKng out and 
consuming the eyes first. They then tear open the 
bowels, and feed upon the intestines. 



190 Fifty Years in Chains ; or. 

We returned to my master's plantation, and I did 
not see this j^lace again until tlie next Sunday, when 
several of my fellow slaves went with me to see the 
remains of the dead, but we found only their bones. 
Great flocks of buzzards and carrion crows were assem- 
bled in the trees, giving a dismal aspect to the woods ; 
and I hastened to abandon a place fraught wdth so 
many afflicting recollections. 

The lady, who had been the innocent sacrifice of 
the brutality of the men, whose bones I had seen 
bleaching in the sun, had died on Saturday evening, 
and her corpse was buried on Monday, in a grave-yard 
on my master's plantation. I have never seen a large 
cotton plantation, in Ciiiolina, without its burying 
ground. This burying ground is not only the place 
of sepulture of the family, who are the proprietors of 
the estate, but also of many other persons who have 
lived in the neighborhood. Half an acre, or an acre 
of ground, is app^' iated as a grave-yard, on one side 
of w^hich the proprietors of the estate, from age to age, 
are buried ; whilst the other parts of the ground are 
open to strangers, poor j)eople of their vicinity, and, 
in general, to all who choose to inter their dead within 
its boundaries. This custom prevails as far north as 
Marjdand ; and it seems to me to be much more con- 
sonant to the feelings of solitude and tender recollec- 
tions, which we always associate with the memory of 



The Life of an American Slave. 191 



departed friends, than the practice of promiscuous in- 
terment in a church-yard, where all idea of seclusion 
is banished, by the last home of the dead being thrown 
open to the rude intrusions of strangers ; where the 
sanctity of the sepulchre is treated as a common, and 
where the grave itself is, in a few years, torn up, or 
covered over, to form a temporary resting-place for 
some new tenant. 

The family of the deceased lady, though not very 
wealthy, was amongst the most ancient and respectable 
in this part of the country ; and, on Sunday, whilst 
the dead body lay in my master's house, there was a 
continual influx and efflux of visiters, in carriages, on 
horse-back, and on foot. The house was open to all 
who chose lo come ; and the best wines, cakes, sweet- 
meats and fruits, were handed about to the company 
by the servants ; though I observed that none remain- 
ed for dinner, except the relations of the deceased, 
those of my master's family, and t^b.e, joung gentleman 
who was with me on the island. 'i>ne visiters remain- 
ed but a short time when they came, and were nearly 
all in mourning. This was the first time that I had 
seen a large number of the fashionable people of Caro- 
lina assembled together, and their appearance impress- 
ed me with an opinion favorable to their character. 
I had never seen an equal number of people anywhere, 
whose deportment was more orderly and decorous, nor 



192 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

whoie feelings seemed to be more in accordance with 
the solemnity of the event, which had brought them 
together. 

I had been ordered by the overseer to remain at the 
great house until the afternoon, for the purpose, as I 
afterwards learned, of being seen by those who came 
to see the corsj)e ; and many of the ladies and gentle- 
men inquired for me, and when I was i:>ointed out to 
them, commended my conduct and fidelity, in discov- 
ering the authors of the murder — condoled with. me foi 
having suffered innocently, and several gave me mon- 
ey. One old lady, who came in a pretty carriage, 
drawn by two black horses, gave me a dollar. 

On Monday the funeral took place, and several hun- 
dred persons followed the corpse to the grave, over 
which a minister delivered a short sermon. The young 
gentleman who was with me when we found the de- 
ceased on the island, walked with her mother to the 
grave-yard, and the little brother followed, with a 
younger sister. 

After the interment, wines and refreshments were 
handed round to the whole assembly, and at least a 
hundred persons remained for dinner with my master's 
family. At four o'clock in the afternoon the carriages 
and horses were ordered to the door of the court-yard 
of the house, and the comj^any retired. At sundown, 
the plantation was as quiet as if its peace had never 
been disturbed. 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 193 



CHATTER X. 

I HAVE belore oliserved that the negroes of the cot- 
ton phantations arc exceedingly superstitious ; and 
they arc indeed prone, beyond all other people that I 
have ever known, t(~) hclieve in ghosts, and the exist- 
ence of an infinite number of supernatural agents. No 
story of a miraculous character can be too absurd to 
obtain credit with them ; and a narrative is not the 
less eagerly listened to, nor the more cautiously re- 
ceived, because it is impossible in its circumstances. 
Within a few weeks after the deaths of the two male- 
factors, to whose horrible crimes were awarded equally 
horrible punishments, the forest that had been the 
scene of these bloody deeds w^as reported and believed 
to be visited at night by beings of unearthly make, 
whose groans and death-struggles w^ere heard in the 
darkest recesses of the woods, amidst the flapping of 
the winirs of vultures, the flutterinc: of carrion crows, 
and the dismal croaking of ravens. In the midst of 
this nocturnal din, the noise caused by the tearing of 



194 Fifty Years in CJiains ; or, 



the flesli from the bones was heard, and the panting 
breath of the agonized sufferer, quivering under the 
beaks of his tormentors, as they consumed his vitals, 
floated audibly upon the evening breeze. 

The murdered lady was also seen walking by moon- 
light, near the spot where she had been dragged from 
her horse, wrapped in a blood-stained mantle, over- 
hung with gory and dishevelled locks. 

The little island in the swamp was said to present 
spectacles too horrid for human eyes to look upon, and 
sounds were heard to issue from it which no human 
ear could bear. Terrific and ghastly fires were seen to 
burst up, at midnight, amongst the evergreens that 
clad this lonely spot, emitting scents too suffocating 
and sickly to be endured ; whilst demoniac yells, 
shouts of despair and groans of agony, mingled their 
ephos in the solitude of the woods. 

Whilst I remained in this neighborhood, no colored 
person ever traveled this road alone after night-fall ; 
and many white men would have ridden ten miles 
round the country to avoid the passage of the ridge 
road, after dark. Generations must pass away before 
the tradition of this place will be forgotten ; and many 
a year will open and close, before the last face will be 
pale, or the last heart beat, as the twilight traveler 
skirts the borders of the Murderer's Swamp. 

We had allowances of meat distributed to all the 



The Life of an American Slave. 195 

people twice this fall — once when we had finished the 
saving the fodder, and again soon after the murder of 
tlie young lady. The first time we had Lcef, such as 
I had driven from the woods when I went to the alli- 
gator pond ; but now we had two hogs given to us, 
which weighed, one a hundred and thirty, and the 
other a hundred and fifty-six jiounds. This was very 
good i^ork, and I received a pound and a quarter as 
my share of it. This was the first pork that I had 
tasted in Carolina, and it afi'orded a real feast. We 
had, in our family, full seven pounds of good fit meat ; 
and as we now had plenty of sweet jiotatoes, both in 
our gardens and in our weekly allow^ance, we had on 
the Sunday following the funeral, as good a dinner of 
stewed pork and potatoes as could have been found in 
all Carolina. We did not eat al] our meat on Sunday, 
but kept jiart of it until Tuesday, when we warmed it 
in a potj with an addition of parsley and other herbs, 
and had another very comfortable meal. 

I had, by this time, become in some measure ac- 
quainted with the country, and began to lay and exe- 
cute plans to procure supplies of such things as were 
not allowed me by my master. I understood various 
methods of entrapping rackoons, and other wild ani- 
mals that abounded in the large swamps of this coun- 
tiy ; and besides the skins, which were worth some- 
thing f^r their furs, I generally procured as many 



196 FifUj Years in Chains ; or, 

rackoonSj opossums^ and rabbits^ as afforded us two or 
three meals in a week. The woman with whom I lived, 
understood the way of dressing an opossum, and I was 
careful to provide ono for our Sunday dinner every 
veek, so long as these animals continued fat and in 
^ood condition. 

All the people on the j)lantation did not live as well 
as our family did, for many of the men did not under- 
ptanl trapping game, and others were too indolent to 
£0 far enough from home to find good places for setting 
their traps. My j)rinci2:)al trajiping ground was three 
miles from home, and I went three times a week, al- 
ways after night, to bring home my game, and keep 
my traps in good order. Many of the families in the 
quarter caught no game, and had no meat, except that 
jvhich we received from the overseer, which averaged 
'.bout six or seven meals in the year. 

Lydia, the woman whom I have mentioned hereto- 
Core, was one of the women whose husbands procured 
iittle or nothing for the sustenance of their families, 
and I often gave her a quarter of a rackoon or a small 
opossum, for which she appeared very thankful. Her 
'aealth was not good — she had a bad cough, and often 
told me she was feverish and restless at night. It 
ippeared clear to me that this woman's constitution 
ii^as broken by hardships and sufferings, and that she 
ould not live long in her present mode of existence. 



Hie Lije of an American Slave, 197 

Her husband, a native of a country far in the interior 
of Africa, said he had been a priest in his own nation, 
and had never been taught to do any kind of labor, 
being supported by the contributions of the public ; 
and he now maintained, as flir as he could, the same 
kind of lazy dignity, that he had enjoyed at home. He 
was compelled by the overseer to work, with the other 
hands, in the field, but as soon as he had come into 
his cabin, he took his scat, and refused to give his wife 
the least assistance in doing any thing. She was con- 
sequently obliged to do the little work that it was ne- 
cessary to perform in the cabin ; and also to bear all 
the labor of weeding and cultivating the flimily patch 
or garden. The husband was a morose, sullen man, 
and said he formerly had ten wives in his own coun- 
tr}^, who all had to w^ork for, and wait upon him ; and 
he thought himself badly off here, in having but one 
woman to do any thing for him. This man was very 
irritable, and often beat and otherwise maltreated his 
wife, on the slightest provocation, and the overseer re- 
fused to protect her, on the ground, that he never in- 
terfered in the family quarrels of the black people. I 
pitied this woman greatly, but as it was not in my 
power to remove her from the presence and authority 
of her husband, I thought it prudent not to say nor do 
any thing to provoke him further against her. As the 
winter approached, and the autumnal rains set in^ she 



198 Fifty Years in Chains] or, 



was frequently exposed in the field, and was wet for 
several hours together ; this, joined to the want of 
warm and comfortable woollen clothes, caused her to 
contract colds, and hoarseness, which increased the 
severity of her cough. A few days before Christmas, 
her child died, after an illness of only three days. I 
assisted her and her husband to inter the infant — which 
was a little boy — and its father buried with it a small 
bow and several arrows ; a little bag of parched meal ; 
a miniature canoe, about a foot long, and a little pad- 
dle, (with which he said it would cross the ocean to 
bis own country) a small stick, with an iron nail, sharp- 
ened, and fastened into one end of it ; and a piece of 
white muslin, with several curious and strange figures 
painted on it in blue and red, by which, he said, his 
relations and countrymen would know the infant to be 
his son, and would receive it accordingly, on its arri- 
val amongst them. 

Cruel as this man was to his wife, I could not but 
respect the sentiments which inspired his affection for 
his child ; though it was the affection of a barbarian. 
He cut a lock of hair from his head, threw it upon the 
dead infant, and closed the grave with his own hands. 
He then told us the God of his country was looking at 
him, and was pleased with what he had done. Thus 
ended the funeral service. 

As we returned home, Lydia told me she was re- 



The Life of an American Slave. 199 

joiced that her cliikl was dead, and out of a world in 
which shivery and wretchedness must have been its 
only portion. I am now, said she, ready to follow my 
child, and the sooner I go the better for me. She 
went with us to the field until the month of January, 
when, as we were returning from our work, one stonny 
and wet evening, she told me she should never pick 
any more cotton — that her strength was gone, and she 
could work no more. When we assembled, at the 
blowing of tiie horn, on the following morning, Lydia 
did not appear. The overseer, who had always ap- 
peared to dislike this woman, whrn he missed her, 
swore very angrily, and said he supposed she was pre- 
tending to be sick, but if she was he would soon cure 
her. He then stepped into his house and took some 
copperas from a little bag, and mixed it with water. 
I followed him to Lydia's cabin, where he compelled 
her to drink this solution of copperas. It caused her 
to vomit violently, and made her exceedingly sick. I 
think to this day, that this act of the overseer was the 
most inhuman of all those that I have seen perpetra.- 
ted upon defenceless slaves. 

Lydia was removed that same day to the sick room, 
in a state of extreme debility and exhaustion. When 
she left this room again she was a corpse. Her dis- 
ease was a consumption of the lungs, which terminated 
her life early in March. I assisted in carrying her to 



200 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



the grave, which I closed upon her, and covered with 
green turf. She sleeps by the side of her infant, in a 
corner of the negro grave-yard of this plantation. 
Death was to her a welcome messenger, who came to 
remove her from toil that she could not support, and 
from misery that she could not sustain. 

Christmas approached, and \\ e all expected two oi 
three holidays — but we were disappointed, as only 
one was all that was allotted to us. 

I went to the field and picked cotton all day, for 
which I w^as paid by the overseer, and at night I had 
a good dinner of stewed pork and sweet potatoes. 
Such were the beginning and end of my first Christ- 
mas on a cotton plantation. We went to w^ork as 
usual the next morning, and continued our labor 
through the week, as if Christmas had been stricken 
from the calendar. I had already saved and laid by a 
little more than ten dollars in money, but part of it 
had been given to me at the funeral. I was now much 
in want of clothes, none having been given me since I 
came here. I had, at the commencement of the cold 
weather, cut up my old blanket, and, with the aid of 
Lydia, wdio was a very good seamstress, converted it 
into a pair of trowsers, and a long roundabout jacket ; 
but this deprived me of my bed, which was imperfectly 
supplied by mats, which I made of rushes. The mats 
were very comfortable things to lie upon, but they 
were by n:> means equa' to blankets for covering. 



The Life of an American Slave. 201 

A report liad been current among us for some time^ 
that there woukl be a distribution of clothes to the 
people at New- Year's day ; but how much, or wliat 
kind of clothes we were to get no one pretended to 
know except that we were to get shoes, in conformity 
to a long-established rule of this plantation. From 
Christmas to New- Year appeared a long week to me, 
and I have no doubt that it appeared yet longer to 
some of my fellow slaves, most of whom were entirely 
barefoot. I liad made moccasins for myself, of the 
skins of sr[uirrcls that I had caught in my traps, and 
by this means protected my feet from the frost, which 
was sometimes very heavy and sharp in the morning. 

On the first day of January, when we met at the 
blowing of the morning horn, the overseer told us we 
must all proceed to tlie great house, where we were to 
receive our winter clothes ; and surely, no order was 
ever more willingly obeyed. When we arrived at the 
house our master was up, and we were all called into 
the great court yard in front of the dwelling. The 
overseer now told us that shoes would be given to all 
those who were able to go to the field to pick cotton. 
This deprived of shoes the children, and several old 
persons, whose eye-sight was not sufficiently clear to 
enable them to pick cotton. A new blanket was then 
given to every one above seven years of age — children 
under seven received no blanket, being left to be pro- 



2Ca Fifta Tairs i» CXiiiuc: 



Tided for bv :\n:s. Chilvlr^n of this ago and 

uadox. goeii:i.-tly : the day-time, and sleep 

\ - • -c - -^ wrapped up to- 

: r may possess. 
It r:^y Trell l^ :i our society, al- 

■5. s :Jly in a con- 

. T;:: there was in 
-— :r of living, in 
:i there is as 
.:e, in the several 



i:ie stT - 

i liTfcsirv in 



:£ aUT wliic T-JJ-iire in !Ncw York or Penn- 

1 



1^ 



♦"li.'C .aai-ii. r 



7i«£y«y«. 



i 



-wsit -^ 



^- & F^-O.. 



204 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 

afterwards made a small net of twine that I bought at 
the store ; and on next Thursday night I took as 
many fish from my weir as filled a half bushel mea- 
sure. This was a real treasure — it was the most for- 
tunate circumstance that had haj)pened with me since 
I came to the country. 

I was enabled to show my generosity, but, like all 
mankind, even in my liberality, I kept myself in mind. 
I gave a large fish to the overseer, and took three more 
to the great house. These were the first fresh fish that 
had been in the family this season ; and I was much 
praised by my master and young mistresses, for my 
skill and success in fishing ; but this was all the ad- 
vantage I received from this effort to court the favor 
of the great : — I did not even get a dram. The j^art 
I had performed in the detection of the murderers of 
the young lady was forgotten, or at least not mention- 
ed now. I went away from the house not only disap- 
pointed but chagrined, and thought with myself that 
if my master and young mistresses had nothing but 
words to give me for my fish, we should not c*irry on 
a very large traffic. 

On next Sunday morning, a black boy came from 
the house, and told me that our master wished to see 
me. This summons was not to be disobeyed. When 
I returned to the mansion, I went round to the kitchen, 
and sent word by one of the house-slaves that I had 



TJie Life of an American Slave. 205 

come. The servant returned and t(»ld me, tluit I was 
to stay in tlic kilclicn and get my breaktast ; and 
after that to corae into the house. A ver)' good break- 
fast was sent to me from my master's table, after tlie 
family had finished their morning meal ; and when T 
had done with my repast I went into the j)arlor. I 
was received witli great affability by my master, who 
told me he had sent for mo to know if I had been ac- 
customed to fish in the place I had come from. I in 
formed him that I had been employed at a fisheiy on 
tlir Patuxcnt, every spring, for several years ; and 
that I thought I understood fishing witli a seine, as 
well as most people. Ho then asked me if I could 
knit a seine, to which I rejdied in the affirmative. 
After some other questions, he told me that as the 
picking of cotton was nearly over for this season, and 
the fields must soon be plouglied up for a new crop, 
he had a thought of having a seine made, and of 
placing me at the head of a fishing party, for the pur- 
pose of trying to take a supply of fish for his hands. 
No communication could have been more unexpected 
than this was, and it was almost as pleasing to me as 
it was unexpected by me. I now began to hope that 
there would be some respite from the labors of the 
cotton field, and that I should not be doomed to drag 
out a dull and monotonous existence, within the con- 
fines of the enclosures of the plantation. 



206 FifUj Years in Chains ; or, 

In Marylandj the fishing season was always one of 
hard labor, it is true, but also a time of joy and hila- 
rity. We then had, throughout the time of fishing, 
plenty of bread, and at least bacon enough to fry our 
fish with. We had also a daily allowance of whisky, 
or brandy, and we always considered ourselves fortu- 
nate when we left the farm to go to the fishery. 

A few days after this, I was again sent for by my 
master, who told me that he had bought twine and 
ropes for a seine, and that I must set to work and knit 
it as quickly as possible ; that as he did not wish the 
twine to be taken to the quarter, I must remain with 
the servants in the kitchen, and live with them while 
employed in constructing the seine. I was assisted in 
making the seine by a black boy, whom I had taught 
to work with me ; and by the end of two weeks we 
had finished our job. 

While at work on this seine, I lived rather better 
than I had formerly done when residing at the quarter. 
We received among us — twelve in number, including 
the people who worked in the garden — the refuse of 
our master's table. In this way we procured a little 
cold meat every day ; and when there w^ere many 
strangers visiting the family, w^e sometimes procuied 
considerable quantities of cold and broken meats. 

My new employment afforded me a better opportu- 
nity than I had hitherto possessed of making correct 



The Life of an American Slave. 207 

•bserwitions upon the domestic economy of my mas- 
Kit's household, and of learning the habits and modes 
of life of the persons who composed it. On a great 
cotton plantation, such as this of my master's, the 
field hands, who live in the quarter, are removed so 
far from the domestic circle of their master's fimiily, 
by their servile condition and tlu' nature of their eni- 
l)loyment, that they know but little more of the trans- 
actions within the walls of tlie great house than if they 
lived ten miles off. Many a slave has been born, lived 
to old age, and died on a i)lantati<)n, without ever 
having been witliin the walls of his master's domicile. 
My master was a widower ; and his house was in 
charge of his sister, a maiden lady, apparently of fifty- 
five or sixty. He had six children, three sons and 
three daughters, and all unmarried ; but only one ot 
the sons was at home, at the time I came upon the 
estate ; the other two were in some of the northern 
cities — the one studying medicine, and the other at 
college. At the time of knitting the twine, these 
young gentlemen had returned on a visit to their rela- 
tions, and all the brothers and sisters were now on the 
l)lace. The young ladies were all gro^vn up, and mar- 
riageable ; their flither was known to be a man of 
great wealth, and the girls were re])uted very pretty in 
Carolina ; one of them, the second of the three, was 
esteemed a ^rreat beautv. 



208 Fifty Years in CJiains ; or, 

The reader might deem my young mistress' i-)retty 
face and graceful person altogether impertinent to the 
narrative of my own life ; but they had a most mate- 
rial influence upon my fortunes, and changed the whole 
tenor of my existence. Had she been less beautiful, 
or of a temper less romantic and adventurous, I should 
still have been a slave in South Carolina, if yet alive, 
and the world would have been saved the labor of 
perusing these pages. 

Any one at all acquainted with southern manners, 
will at once see that my master's house possessed at- 
tractions which would not fail to draw within it numer- 
ous visiters ; and that the head of such a family as 
dwelt under its roof was not likely to be without friends. 

I had not been at work upon the seine a week be- 
fore I discovered, by listening to the conversation of 
my master and the other members of the family, that 
they prided themselves not a little upon the antiquity 
of their house, and the long practice of a generous 
hospitality to strangers, and to all respectable people 
who chose to visit their homestead. All circumstances 
seemed to conspire to render this house one of the chief 
seats of the fashion, the beauty, the wit, and the gal- 
lantry of South Carolina. Scarcely an evening came 
but it brought a carriage, and ladies and gentlemen 
and their servants ; and every day brought dashing 
young planters, mounted on horseback, to dine with 



TliC Life of an American Slave. 209 

the family ; but Sunday was the day of the week on 
which the house received the greatest accession of com- 
])any. My master and family were members of the 
E})iscopal Church, and attended service every Sunday, 
wlien the weather was fine, at a church eight miles 
distant. Each of my young masters and mistresses 
liad a saddle-horse, and in pleasant weather thoy fre- 
quently all went to church on horseback, leaving my 
old master and mistress to occupy the family carriage 
alone. I have seen fifteen or twenty young peopk 
come to my master's for dinner on Sunday from church ; 
and very often the parson, a young man of handsome 
appearance, was among them. I had observed these 
things long before, but now I had come to live at the 
house, and became more familiar with them. Three 
Sundays intervened while I was at work upon the seine, 
and on each of these Sundays more than twenty per- 
sons, besides the family, dined at my master's. During 
these three weeks, my young masters were absent far 
the greater part of the time ; but I observed that they 
generally came home on Sunday for dinner. My young 
mistresses were not from home much, and I believe 
they never left the plantation unless either their flithei 
or some one of their brothers was with them. Din- 
ner parties were frequent in my master's house ; 
and on these occasions of festivity, a black man, who 
belonged to a neighboring estate, and who played 



210 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

the violin, was sent for. I observed tliat whenever 
this man was sent for, he came, and sometimes 
even came before night, which appeared a little singu- 
lar to me, as I knew the difficulty that colored people 
had to encounter in leaving the estate to which they 
were attached. 



Tilt Life of an American Slave. 211 



CHAPTER XI. 

Early in March, my seine being now completed, 
my master told me I must take with me three other 
black men, and go to the river to clear out a fishery. 
This task was a disagreeble job, for it was nothing less 
than dragging out of the river all the old trees and 
brush that had sunk to the bottom, within the limits 
of our intended fishing ground. 

My master's eldest son had been down the river, and 
had purchased two boats, to be used at the fishery ; 
but when I saw them, I declared them to be totally un- 
fit for that purpose. They were old batteaux, and so 
leaky that they would not have supported the weight 
of a seine and the men necessary to lay it out. I 
advised the building of two good canoes from some of 
the large yellow pines in the woods. My advice was 
accepted, and together with five others hands, I went 
to work at the canoes, which we completed in less than 
a week. 

So far things went pretty well, and I flattered my- 



212 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

self that I should become the head man at this new 
fishery, and have the command of the other hands. I 
also expected that I should be able to gain some advan- 
tage to myself, by disposing of a part of the small fish 
that might be taken at the fishery. I reckoned with- 
out my host. 

My master had only purchased this place a short 
time before he boudit me. Before that time he did 
not own any place on the river, fit for the establish- 
ment of a fishery. His lands adjoined the river for 
more than a mile in extent, along its margin ; but an 
impassable morass separated the channel of the river, 
from the firm ground, all along his lines. He had 
cleared the highest parts of this morass, or swamp, and 
had here made his rice fields ; but he was as entirely 
cut off from the river, as if an ocean had separated it 
from him. 

On the day that we launched the canoes into the 
river, and while we were engaged in removing some 
snags and old trees that had stuck in the mud, near 
the shore, an ill-looking stranger came to us, and told 
us that our master had sent him to take charge of the 
fishery, and superintend all the work that was to be 
done at it. This man, by his contract with my master, 
was to receive a part of all the fish caught, in lieu of 
wages ; and was invested with the same authority over 
us that was exercised by the overseer in the cotton field. 



The Life of an American Slave. 213 



I soon found that I had cause to regret my removal 
from the i^lantation. It was found quite impossible 
to remove the old logs, and other rubbish from tlie 
bottom of the river, without going into the water, and 
wrenching them from their places with long hand- 
spikes. In peifoi-ming this work we were obliged to 
wade up to our slioulders, and often to dip our very 
heads under water, in raising the sunken timber. How- 
ever, witliin less than a week, we had cleared the 
ground, and now began to liaul our seine. At first, 
we caught notliing but common river fish ; but after 
two or three days, we bc-gan to take shad. Of the com- 
mon fish, such as i)ike, perch, suckers, and othei-s, we 
had the liberty of keeping as many as we could eat ; 
but the misfortune was, that we had no pork, or fat 
of any kind, to fry tliem witli ; and for several days 
we contented ourselves with boiling them on the coals, 
and eating them with our corn bread and sweet pota- 
toes. We could have lived well, if we had been per- 
mitted to boil the shad on the coals, and eat them ; for 
a fat shad will dress itself in being broiled, and is very 
good, without any oily substance added to it. 

All the shad that we caught, were carefully taken 
away by a black man, who came tliree times every day 
to the fishery, with a cart. 

The master of the fishery had a family that lived 
several miles up the river. In the summer time, he 



214 ^ifty Years in Chains ; or, 

fished with hooks^ and small nets, when not engaged 
in running turpentine, in the pine woods. In the 
winter he went back into the pine forest, and made tar 
of the dead pine trees ; but returned to the river at 
the opening of the spring, to take advantage of the 
shad fishery. He was supposed to be one of the most 
skillful fishermen on the Congrace river, and my mas- 
ter employed him to superintend his new fishery, un- 
der an expectation, I presume, that as he was to get 
a tenth part of all the fish that might be caught, he 
would make the most of his situation. My master had 
not calculated with accuracy the force of habit, nor 
the difficulty which men experience, in conducting 
very simple affairs, of which they have no practical 
knowledge. 

The fish-master did very well for the interest of his 
employer for a few days ; compelling us to work in 
hauling the seine, day and night, and scarcely permit- 
ting us to take rest enough to obtain necessary sleep. 
We were compelled to work full sixteen hours every 
day, including Sunday ; for in the fishing season no 
respect is paid to Sunday by fishermen anywhere. We 
had our usual quantity of bread and potatoes, with 
plenty of common fish ; but no shad came to our lot, 
nor had we anything to fry our fish with. A broiled 
fresh-water fish is not very good at best, without salt 



The Life of an American Slave. 215 



or oil ; and after we had eaten them every day, for a 
week, we cared very little for them. 

^ By this time our fish-master began to relax in his 
discipline ; not that he became more kind to ns, or 
required us to dc less work, but to compel us to work 
all night, it was necessary for him to sit up all night 
and watch us. Tliis was a degree of toil and priva- 
tion to which he could not long submit ; and one even- 
ing soon after dark, he called me to him, and told me 
that he intended to make me overseer of the fishery 
that night ; and he had no doubt I would keep the 
hands at work, and attend to the business as well 
witliout him as with him. He then went into his 
cabin, and went to bed ; whilst I went and laid out 
the seine, and made a very good haul. We took more 
than two hundred shad at this draught ; and followed 
up our work with great industry all night, only taking 
time to eat our accustomed meal at midnight. 
^ Every fisherman knows that the night is the best 
time for taking shad ; and the liitlQ rest that had been 
allowed us, since we began to fish, had always been 
from eight o'clock in the morning until four in the 
afternoon ; unless within that period there was an 
appearance of a school offish in the river; when we 
had to rise, and lay out the seine, no matter at what 
hour of the day. The fish-master had been very 
severe with the hands since he came amongst us, and 



216 Fiftij Years in Cliains ; or, 



had made very free use of a long hickory gad that he 
sometimes carried about with him ; though at times 
he would relax his austerity, and talk quite familiarly 
with us, — especially with me, whom lie perceived to 
have some knowledge of the business in which we were 
eno-ao-ed. The truth was, that this man knew nothing 
of fishing with a seine, and I had been obliged from 
the beginning to direct the operations of laying out 
and drawing in the seine ; though the master was 
always very loud and boisterous in giving his com- 
mands, and directing us in what part of the river we 
should let down the seine. 

Having never been accustomed to regular work, or 
to the pursuit of any constant course of personal appli- 
cation, the master was incapable of long continued 
exertion ; and I feel certain that he could not have 
been prevailed upon to labor twelve hours each day, 
for a year, if in return he had been certain of receiving- 
ten thousand dollars.. Notwithstanding tliis, he was 
capable of rousing himself, and of undergoing any de- 
gree of fatigue or privation for a short time, even for a 
few days. He had not been trained to habits of indus- 
try, and could not bear the restraints of uniform labor. 

We worked hard all night, the first night of my 
superintendence, and when the sun rose the next morn- 
ing, the master had not risen from his bed. As it was 
now the usual time of <Mviding the fish, I called to 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 217 



liim to come and sec tliis business fairly done ; but as 

he did not come down immediately to the landing, I 

proceeded to make the division myself, in as equitable 

a manner as I could : givinp:, however, a full share of 

largo fish to the master. When he came down to us, 

and overlooked both the piles of fish — his own and 

tliiit (il'iiiy master — lie was so well satisfied witli what 

1 liad done, that he said, if he had known that I would 

do so wcW fur him, he would not have risen. I was 

glad to hear this, as it led me to hope that I should 

\yQ able to induce him to stay in his cabin during the 

greater })art (tf the time ; t-) do wliich, I was well 

issured, he felt disposed. 

When the night came, the master again told me he 

should go to bed, not being well, and desired me to 

do as I had done the night before. This night we 

cooked as many shad as we could all eat ; but were 

careful to carry, far out into the river, the scales and 

entrails of the stolen fish. In the morning I made a 

division of the fish before I called the master, and 

then went and asked him to come and see wliat I had 

done. He was again well pleased, and now proposed 

to us all that if we would not let the affair be known 

to our master, he would leave us to manage the fishery 

at night according to our discretion. To this proposal 

SN'C all readily agreed, and I received authority to keep 

^he other hands a"- work, until the master would go 

10 



218 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 

and get his breakfast. 'I had now accomplished the 
•object that I had held very near my heart ever since 
we began to fish at this place. 

From this time to the end of the fishing season, we 
all lived well; and did not perform more work than we 
were able to bear. I was in no fear of being punished 
by the fish-master, for he was now at least as much in 
my power as I was in his ; for if my master had known 
the agreement that he had made with us, for the pur- 
pose of enabling himself to sleep all night in his cabin, 
he would have been deprived of his situation, and all 
the profits of his share of the fishery. 

There never can be any affinity of feehng between 
master and slave, except in some few isolated cases, 
where the master has treated his slave in such a man- 
ner as to have excited in him strong feelings of grati- 
tude ; or where the slave* entertains appreliensions, 
that by the death of his master, or by being separated 
from him in any other way, he may fall under the 
power of a more tyrannical ruler, or may in some shape 
be worsted by the change. I was never acquainted 
with a slave who believed that he violated any rule oi 
morality by appropriating to himself any thing that 
belonged to his master, if it was necessary to his com- 
fort. The master might call it theft, and brand it 
wdth the name of crime ; but the slave reasoned differ- 
ently, when he took a portion of his master's goods, 



TJlc Life of an Aim ri can Slave. 219 

to satisfy his hunger, keeji himself Wcarni, or to gnatify 
his passion for luxurious enjoyment. 

The slave sees his master residing inasimcious man- 
sion, riding in a fine carriage, and dressed in costly 
clothes, and attri])utes the possession of all these enjoy- 
ments to his own hibor ; whilst he who is the cause of 
so much gratification and pleasure to another, is him- 
self deprived of even the necessary accommodations of 
liuman life. Ignorant men do not and cannot reason 
logically ; and in tracing things from cause to effect, 
the slave attributes all tliat he sees in possession of 
his master to his own toil, without taking tlie trouble 
to examine how i\ir the skill, judgment, and economy 
of his master may have contributed to the accumula- 
tion of the wealth by which his residence is surround- 
ed. There is, in fact, a mutual dependence between 
the master and his slave. The former could not acquire 
any thing without the labor of the latter, and the 
latter would always remain in poverty without the 
judgment of the former in directing labor to a definite 
and profitable result. 

After I had obtained the virtual command of the 
fishery, I w^as careful to awaken the master every morn- 
ing at sunrise, that he might be present when the 
division of the fish was made ; and when the morning 
cart arrived, that the carter might not report to my 
master, that the fish-master was in bed. I had now 



220 Fifty Years in Chains ; or. 



become interested in preserving the good opinion of 
my master in favor of his agent. 

Since my arrival in Carolina I had never enjoyed a 
full meal of bacon ; and now determined, if possible, 
to procure such a supply of that luxury as would ena- 
ble me and all my fellow-slaves at the fishery to regale 
ourselves at pleasure. At this season of the year boats 
frec[uently passed up the river, laden with merchandise 
and goods of various kinds, among which were gener- 
ally large quantities of salt, intended for curing fish, 
and for other purposes on the plantations. These 
boats also carried bacon and salted pork up the river, 
for sale ; but as they never moved at night, confining 
their navigation to day-light, and as none of them had 
hitherto stopped near our landing, we had • not met 
with an opportunity of entering into a traffic with any 
of the boat masters. We were not always to be so 
unfortunate. One evening, in the second week of the 
fishing season, a large keel-boat was seen working up 
the river about sundown ; and shortly after, came to 
for the night, on the opposite side of the river, direct- 
ly against our landing. We had at the fishery a small 
canoe called a punt, about twelve feet long ; and when 
we went to lay out the seine, for the first haul after 
night, I attached the punt to the side of the canoe, 
and when we had finished letting dcwn the seine, I 
left the other hands to work it toward the 'shore, and 



The Life of an American Slave. 221 



ran over in tlie punt to tlie keel-boat. Upon inqui- 
ring of the captain if lie liad any bacon tliat Ik^ would 
exchange for shad, he said, he had a little ; but, as 
the risk he would run in dealin«]: witli a slave was ^reat 
I must expect to pay him more than the usual price. 
He at length proposed to give me a hundred ])ounds 
of Imcon for three hundred shad. This was at least 
twice as much as the bacon was worth ; but we did 
not bargain as men generally do, where half of the 
bargain is on each side ; for here the captain of the 
keel-boat settled the terms for both parties. However, 
he ran the hazard of being prosecuted for dealing with 
slaves, which is a very high offence in Carolina ; and 
I was selling that which, in point of law, did not be- 
long to me ; but to which, nevertheless, I felt in my 
conscience that I had a better riglit tlian any other 
person. In support of the right, which I felt to be 
on my side in this case, came a keen appetite for the 
bacon, which settled the controversy, upon the ques- 
tion of the morality of this traffic, in my favor. It so 
happened, that we made a good haul witli our seine 
this evening, and at the time I returned to the landing, 
the men were all on shore, engaged in drawing in the 
seine. As soon as we had taken out the fish, we 
placed three hundred of them in one of our canoes, and 
pushed over to the keel-boat, wdiere the fish were 
counted out, and the bacon was received into our craft 



222 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



with all possible despatch. One part of this small 
trade exhibited a trait of human character which I 
think w^orthy of being noticed. The captain of the 
boat was a middle-aged, thin, sallow man, with long 
bushy hair ; and he looked like one who valued the 
opinions of men but little. I expected that he would 
not be scrupulous in giving me my full hundred 
pounds of bacon : but in this I was mistaken ; for he 
weighed the flitches with great exactness, in a pair of 
large steelyards, and gave me good weight. When 
the business was ended, and the bacon in my canoe, 
he told me, he hoped I was satisfied with him ; and 
assured me, that I should find the bacon excellent. 
When I was about pushing from the boat, he told me 
in a low voice, though there was no one who could 
hear us, except his own people — that he should be 
down the river again in about two weeks, w^hen he 
should be very glad to buy any produce that I had 
for sale ; adding, " I will give you half as much for 
cotton as it is worth in Charleston, and pay you either 
in money or groceries, as you may choose. Take care, 
and do not betray yourself, and I shall be honest witli 
you." 

I was so much rejoiced at being in possession of a 
hundred pounds of good flitch bacon, that I had no 
room in either my head or my heart for the considera- 
tion of this man's notions of honesty, at the present 



The Life of an American Slave. 223 



time ; Liit iiaddlcd witli all strength for our Lindino;, 
wiiere we took the bacon from the canoe, stowed it 
away in an ohl salt barrel, and safely deposited#it in a 
hole dug for the purpose in the floor of my cabin. 

About tliis time, our allowance of sweet potatoes 
was withli.'ld from us altogether, in consequence of 
tlie high i)rice paid for this article by the captains of 
the keel-boats ; for the purpose, as I heard, of sending 
them to New York and Philadelphia. Ever since 
Christmas we had been i)ermittod to draw, on each 
Sunday evening, either a i>eck of com, as usual, or 
half a peck of corn and half a bushel of sweet pota- 
toes, at our discretion. The half a peck of corn and 
the half a bushel of potatoes was worth much more 
than a peck of corn ; but potatoes were so abundant 
this year, that they were of little value, and the sav- 
ing of corn was an object worth attending to by a 
large planter. The boatmen now offered half a dol- 
lar a bushel for potatoes, and we were again restricted 
io our corn ration. 

Notwithstanding the privation of our potatoes, we 
at the fishery lived sumptuously, although our master 
certainly believed that our flire consisted of corn-bread 
and river fish, cooked without lard or butter. It was 
necessary to be exceedingly cautious in the use of our 
bacon ; and to prevent the suspicions of the master 
and others who frequented our landing, I enjoined cmr 



224 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

IDeojDle never to fry any of tlie meat, but to boil it all. 
No one can smell boiled bacon far ; but fried flitcli 
can be smelled a mile by a good nose. 

We had two meals every night, one of bacon and 
the other of fried shad, which nearly deprived us of 
all apjoetitc for the breakfasts and dinners that we 
prepared in the daytime ; consisting of cold corn-bread 
without salt, and broiled fresh water fish, without any 
sort of seasoning. We spent more than two weeks in 
this happy mode of life, unmolested by our master, 
his son, or the master of the fishery ; except when the 
latter complained, rather than threatened us, because 
we sometimes suffered our seine to float too far down 
the river, and get entangled among some roots and 
brush that lay on the bottom, immediately below our 
fishing ground. We now expected, every evening, to 
see the return of the boatman who had sold us the ba- 
con, and the man who was with me in the canoe at 
the time we received it, had not forgotten the invita- 
tion of the captain to trade with him in cotton on his 
return. My fellow-slave was a native of Virginia, as 
lie told me, and had been sold and brought to Caro- 
lina about ten years before this time. He was a good- 
natured, kind-hearted man, and did many acts of 
benevolence to me, such as one slave is able to perform 
for another, and I felt a real affection for him ; but 
he had adopted the too common rule of moral action, 
that there is no harm in a slave robbins: his master. 



The Life of an American Slave. 



The rcwidcT may suppose, from my nccoimt of the 
bacon, t licit 1, too, had adopted this rule as a part of 
my creed ; but I solemnly declare, that this was not 
the case, and that I never deprived any one of all the 
masters that I liave served, of anything against his 
consent, unless it was some kind of food ; and that 
of all I ever took, I am confident, I have given away 
more than the half to mv fellow-slaves, whom I knew 
to l)c equally needy with myself. 

The man who had been .with mc at the keel-boat 
told me one day, that he had laid a i)lan by which wo 
could get thirty or forty dollars, if I would join him 
in the execution of his i)roject. Thirty or f.jrty dollars 
was a large sum of money to me. I had never pos- 
sessed so much money at one time in my life ; and I 
t<ild him that I was willing to do anything by which 
we could obtain such a treasure. lie then told me, 
that he knew where the mule and cart, that were used 
by the man who carried away our fisli, were kept at 
night ; and that he intended to set out on the first 
dark night, and go to the jdantation — harness the 
mule to the cart — go to the cotton-gin house — put two 
bags of cotton into the cart— bring them to a thicket 
'of small pines that grew on the river bank, a sliort 
distance below the fisher}', and leave them there until 
the keel-boat should return. All that he desired of 

me was, to maka some excuse for his absence, to the 

10* 



226 Fifty Years in Chains , or 



other hands, and assist him to get his cotton into the 
canoe, at the coming of the hoat. 

I disliked the whole scheme, both on account of its 
iniquity and of the danger which attended it ; but my 
com23anion was not to be discouraged by all the argu- 
ments which I could use against it, and said, if I 
would not participate in it, he was determined to un- 
dertake it alone : provided I would not inform against 
him. To this I said nothing ; but he had so often 
heard me express my detestation of one slave betray- 
ing another, that I presume he felt easy on that score. 
The next ni2;ht but one after this conversation was 
very dark, and when we went to lay out the seine 
after night, ISTero was missing. The other people in- 
quii-ed of me if I knew where he was, and when I re- 
plied in the negative, little more was said on the sub- 
ject ; it being common for the slaves to absent them- 
selves from their habitations at night, and if the matter 
is not discovered by the overseer or master, nothing is 
ever said of it by the slaves. The other people sup- 
posed that, in this instance, Nero had gone to see a 
woman whom he lived with as his wife, on a planta- 
tion a few miles down the river ; and were willing to 
work a little harder to permit him to enjoy the j^lea* 
sure of seeing his family. He returned before day, 
and said he had been to see his wife, which satisfied 
the curiosity of our comj^anions. The very next even- 



The Life of an American Slave 227 



ing after Nero's absence, the keel-boat descended the 
river, came down on our side, hailed us at the fishery, 
and, drawing in to the shore below our landing, made 
her roi^s flist among the young pines of which I have 
sjooken above. After we made our first haul, I missed 
Nero ; but he returned to us before we had laid out 
the seine, and told us that he had been in the woods 
to collect some Urjld-ioood — dry, resinous pine — which 
he brought on his shoulder. When the morning came, 
the keel-boat was gone, and every thing wore the ordi- 
nary aspect about our fishery ; but when the man came 
with the mule and the cart to take away the fish, he 
told us that there was great trouble on the plantation. 
The overseer had discovered that some one had stolen 
two bags of cotton the last night, and all the hands 
were undergoing an examination on the subject. The 
slaves on the plantation, one and all, denied having 
any knowledge of the matter, and, as there was no 
evidence against any one, the overseer threatened, at 
the time he left the quarter, to U'hip every hand on 
the estate, for the purpose of making them discover 
who tbe thief was, 

The slaves on the plai;tation differed in opinion as 
to the perpetrator of this theft ; but the greater num- 
ber concurred in charging it upon a free negro man, 
named Ishmael, who lived in a place called the White 
Oak Woods, and foL owed making ploughs and harrow . 



228 Fifty Years in Chains * or, 

frames. He also made handles for hoes, and the frame 
work of cart bodies. 

This man was generally rejDuted a thief for a greai 
distance romid the country, and the black jieoi^le 
charged him with stealing the cotton on no other evi- 
dence than his general bad character. The overseer, 
on the other hand, expressed his 02^inion without hesi- 
tation, which was, that the cotton had been stolen by 
some of the people of the plantation, and sold to a 
poor white man, who resided at the distance of three 
miles back in the pine woods, and was believed to have 
dealt with slaves, as a receiver of their stolen goods, 
for many years. 

This white man was one of a class of poor cottagers. 
The house, or cabin, in which he resided, was built of 
small poles of the yellow pine, with the bark remain- 
ing on them ; the roof was of clap-boards of pine, and 
the chimney was made of sticks and mud, raised to 
the height of eight or ten feet. The appearance of tlio 
man and his wife was such as one might expect to find 
in such a dwelling. The lowest poverty had, through 
life, been the companion of these poor people, of which 
their clayey complexions, haggard figures, and tattered 
garments gave the strongest proof. It appeared to me 
that the state of destitutijn in which these people 
lived, afforded very convincing evidence that they were 
not in possession of the proceeds of the stolen goods of 



The Life of an American Slave. 229 



any person. I had often been at the cabin of this man 
in my trappini^ expeditions, the previous autumn and 
winter ; and I believe the overseer regarded the cir- 
cumstance, that black people often called at his house, 
as conclusive evidence that he held criminal intercourse 
with them. However this might be, the overseer de- 
termined to search the premises of this harmless fores- 
ter, whom he resolved, beforehand, to treat as a guilty 



man. 



It being known that I was well acfiuainted with the 
woods in the neighborhood of the cabin, I was sent 
for, to leave the fishery, and come to assist in making 
search for the lost bags of cotton — perhaps it was also 
believed tliat I was in the secrets of the suspected 
house. It was not thought prudent to trust any of 
the hands on the plantation in making the intended 
search, as they were considered the principal thieves ; 
whilst we, of the fishery, against whom no suspicion 
had arisen, were required to give our assistance in fer- 
reting out the perpetrators of an offence of the highest 
grade that can be committed by a slave on a cotton 
estate. 

Before leaving the fishery, I advised the master to 
be very careful not to let the overseer, or my master 
know, that he had left us to manage the fishery at 
night, by ourselves ; since, as a theft had been com- 
mitted, it might possibly be charged upon him, if it 



230 Fifty Years in Chai7is ; or, 

were known that he had allowed ns so much liberty. 
I said this to put the master on his guard against sur- 
prise ; and to prevent him from saying anything that 
mio-ht turn the attention of the overseer to the hands 
at the fishery ; for I knew that if punishment were to 
fall amongst us^ it would he quite as likely to reach the 
innocent as the guitly — besides, though I was innocent 
of the bags of cotton, I was guilty of the bacon, and, 
however I might make distinctions between the moral 
turpitude of the two cases, I knew that if discovered, 
they w^ould both be treated alike. 

When I arrived at the quarter, whither I repaired, 
in obedience to the orders I received, I found the over- 
seer with my master's eldest son, and a young white 
man, who had been employed to repair the cotton-gin, 
waitins: for me. I observed when I came near the over- 
seer, that he looked at me very attentively, and after- 
wards called my young master aside, and spoke to 
him in a tone of voice too low to be heard by me. The 
whife gentlemen then mounted their horses, and set off 
by the road for the cabin of the white man. I had 
orders to take a short route, through the woods and 
across a swamp, by which I could reach the cabin as 
soon as the overseer. 

The attentive examination that the overseer had 
given me, caused me to feel uneasy, although I could 
not divine the cause of his scrutiny, nor of the subject 



The Life of an American Slave. 231 

of the short conversation between him and my young 
master. By traveling at a rapid pace, I arrived at the 
cabin of the suspected man before the gentlemen, but 
tliought it prudent not to approach it before they came 
up, lest it might be imagined that I had gone in to 
give information to the occupants of the danger that 
tlireatened them. 

Here I had a liard struggle with my conscience, 
wliicli seemed to say to me, that I ought at once to 
disclose all I knew concerning the lost bags of cotton, 
for tlie purpose of saving these poor people from the 
terror that they must necessarily feel at the sight of 
those wlio were coming to accuse them of a great crime, 
perhajis from the afllictions and sufferings attendant 
upon a prosecution in a court of justice. These re- 
flections were cut short by the arrival of the party of 
gentlemen, wlio passed me where I sat, at the side of 
the path, with no other notice than a simple command 
of the overseer to come on. I followed them into the 
cabin, where we found tlie man and his wife, with two 
little children, eating roasted potatoes. 

The overseer saluted this family by telling them 
that we had come to search the house for stolen cotton. 
That it was well known that he had lonsr been dealino: 
with negroeo, and they were now determined to bring 
him to puDir.hment. I was then ordered to tear up 
the floor of the cabin, whilst tlie overseer mounted into 



232 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



the loft. I found nothing under the floor, and the 
overseer had no better success above. The wife was 
then advised to confess where her husband had con- 
cealed the cotton, to save herself from being brought 
in as a party to the affair ; but this poor woman pro- 
tested with tears that they were totally ignorant of the 
whole matter. Whilst the wife was interrogated, the 
father stood without his own door, trembling with fear, 
but, as I could perceive, indignant with rage. 

The overseer, who was fluent in the use of profane 
language, exerted the highest degree of his vulgar elo- 
quence upon these harmless people, whose only crime 
was their poverty, and whose weakness alone had invi- 
ted the ruthless aggression of their powerful and rich 
neighbors. 

Finding nothing in the house, the gentlemen set out 
to scour the woods around the cabin, and commanded 
me to take the lead in tracing out tree tops and thick- 
ets, where it was most likely that the stolen cotton 
might be found. Our search was in vain, as I knew 
it would be beforehand ; but when weary of ranging in 
the woods, the gentlemen again returned to the cabin, 
which we now found without inhabitants. The alaiTQ 
caused by our visit, and the manner in which the gen- 
tlemen had treated this lonely family, had caused them 
to abandon their dwelling, and seek safety in flight. 
The door of the house was closed and fastened with a 



The Life of an American Slave. 233 



string to a nail in the post of the door. After callin;^' 
several times for the fugitives, and receiving no answer, 
the door was kicked open by my young master ; the 
few articles of miserable furniture tliat the cabin con- 
tained, including a bed, made of flags, were thrown 
into a heap in the corner^ and fire was set to tlie dwcll- 
inir bv tlie overseer. 

We remained until the flames had reached the roof 
of tlie cabin, when the iientlemen mounted their horses 
and sot ofl* for home, ordering me to return by the way 
that I had come. When wc again reached the house 
(if my master, several gentlemen of the neighborhood 
had assembled, drawn together by common interest 
that is felt amongst the jilanters to punish theft, and 
particularly a theft of cotton in the bag. My young 
master related to his neighbors, with great apparent 
satisfaction, the exploits of the morning ; said he had 
routed one receiver of stolen goods out of the country, 
and that all others of his character ought to be dealt 
with in the same manner. In this opinion all the 
gentlemen present concurred, and after much conver- 
sation on the subject, it was agreed to call a genera! 
meeting for the purpose of devising the best, surest 
and most peaceful method of removing from the coun- 
try the many white men who, residing in the district 
without property, or without interest in preserving the 
morals of the slaves, were believed to carry on an un- 



234 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



lawful and criminal traffic with the negroes, to the 
great injury of the planters in general, and of the 
masters of the slaves who dealt with the offenders in 
particular. 

I was present at this preliminary consultation, which 
took place at my master's cotton-gin, whither the gen- 
tlemen had repaired for the purpose of looking at the 
place where the cotton had been removed. So many 
cases of this forbidden traffic between the slaves and 
these '* white negro dealers," as they were termed, were 
here related by the different gentlemen, and so many 
white men were referred to by name as being concerned 
in this criminal business, that I began to suppose the 
losses of the planters in this way must be immense. 
This conference continued until I had totally forgotten ' 
the scrutinizing look that I had received from our over- 
seer a't the time I came np from the fishery in the- 
morning ; but the period had now come when I again 
was to be reminded of this circumstance, for on a sud- 
den the overseer called me to come forward and let 
the gentlemen see me. I again felt a sort of vague 
and undefinable apprehension that no good was to grow 
out of this examination of my person, but a command 
j)f our overseer was not to be disobeyed". After looking 
at my face, with a kind of leer or side glance, one of 
the gentlemen, who was an entire stranger to me, and 
whom I had never before seen, said, " Boy, you appear 



Tlic Life of an American Slave. 235 



to live well ; how much meat does your master allow 
you in a week ?" I was almost totally confounded at 
tlie name of meat, and felt the blood rush to my heart, 
but nevertheless forced a sort of smile upon my face, 
and replied, " My master has been very kind to all his 
people of late, but has not allowed us any meat for 
some weeks. We have plenty of good bread, and 
abundance of river fisli, which, together with the heads 
and rocs of tlic sliad that we have salted at the land- 
ing, makes a very excellent living for us ; though if 
master would please to give us a little meat now and 
then, we should be very thankful for it." 

This speech, whicli contained all tlie eloquence I 
was master of at the time, seemed to produce some 
effect in my flivor, for the gentleman said nothing in 
reply, until the overseer, rising from a board on which 
he had been sitting, came close up to me and said, 
^^ Charles, you need not tell lies about it ; you have 
been eating meat, I know you have, no negro could 
look as fat, and sleek, and blaclv, and greasy, as you, 
if he had nothin": to eat but corn bread and river chubs. 
You do not look at all as you did before you went to 
the fishery ; and all the hands on the plantation have 
had as many chubs and other river fish as they could 
eat, as well as you, and yet they are as poor as snakes 
in comparison with you. Come, tell the truth, let us 
know where you get the meat that you have been 



236 Fifty Years in Chains ; ov, 



eating, and you sliall not be wliipi^ed/' I begged the 
overseer and the other gentlemen not to ridicule oi 
make sport of me, because I was a poor slave, and was 
obliged to live on bread and-fresh water fish ; and con- 
cluded this second harangue by expressing my thank- 
fulness to God Almighty, for giving me such good 
health and strength as to enable me to do my work, 
and look so well as I did upon such poor flire ; adding, 
that if I only had as much bacon as I could eat, they 
would soon see a man of a different appearance from 
that which I now exhibited. " None of your palaver," 
rejoined the overseer—" Why, I smell the meat in you 
this moment. Do I not see the grease as it runs out 
of your face ?" I was by this time in a profuse sweat, 
caused by the anxiety of my feelings, and simply said, 
"Master sees me sweat, I suppose." 

•All the gentlemen present then declared, with one 
accord, that I must have been living on meat for 
a long time, as no negro, who had no meat to eat, 
could look as I did -; and one of the company advised 
the overseer to whip me, and compel me to confess the 
truth. I have no doubt but this advice would have 
been practically followed, had it not been for a happy 
though dangerous suggestion of my own mind, at this 
moment. It was no other than a proposal on my 
part, that I should be taken to the landing, and if all 
the people there did not look as well and as much 



The Life of an American Slave. 237 



like meat-eaters as I did, then I would agree to be 
whipped ill any way the gentlemen should deem ex- 
pedient. This offer on my part was instiintly accept- 
ed by the gentlemen, and it was agreed among them 
that they would all go to the landing with the over- 
seer, partly for the purpose of seeing me condemned 
]»y tlie judgment to which I had voluntarily chosen to 
suhinit myself, and partly fur the purpose of seeing 
my master's new fishery. 

We were quickly at the landing, though four miles 
distant ; and I now felt confident that I should escape 
the dangers that beset me, provided the master of the 
fishery did not betray his own negligence and lead 
himself, as well as others, into new troubles. 

Though on foot, I was at the landing as soon as 
the gentlemen, and was first to announce to the mas- 
ter the feats we had performed in the course of the 
day, adding, with great emphasis, and even confi- 
dence in my manner, " You know, master fish-master, 
whether we have had any meat to eat here or not. If 
we had meat here, would not you see it ? You have 
been up with us every night, and know that we have 
not been allowed to take even shad, let alone having 
meat to eat." The fish-master supported me in all I 
said ; declared we had been good boys — ^liarl worked 
night and day, of his certain knowledge, as he had 
been with us all niiihtand everv night since we began 



238 ^ifiy S'ears in Chains ; or, 



to iish. That lie had not allowed us to eat anything 
but fresh water fish, and the heads and roes of the 
shad that were salted at the landing. As to meat, he 
said he was willing to be qualified on a cart-load of 
Testaments that there had not been a pound at the 
landing since the commencement of the season, except 
that which he had in his own cabin. I had now ac- 
quired confidence, and desired the gentlemen to look 
at Kero and the other hands, all of whom has as much 
the appearance of bacon eaters as myself. This was 
the truth, especially with regard to one of the men, 
Avho was much fatter than I was. 

The frentlemen now beiran to doubt the evidence of 
their own senses, which they had held infallible here- 
tofore. I showed the fine fish that we had to eat ; 
cat, perch, mullets, and 'especially two large pikes, 
that had been caught to-dav. and assured them that 
upon such fare as this, men must needs get fat. I 
now perceived that victoiy was with me for once. All 
the gentlemen faltered, hesitated, and began to talk of 
other affairs, except the overseer, who still ran about 
the landing, swearing and scratching his head, and 
saying it was strange that we were so fat, whilst the 
hands on the plantation were as lean as sand-hill 
cranes. He was. obliged to give the afiair over. He 
was no longer supported by my young master and nis 
companions, all of whom congi-atulated themselves 



The Life of an American Slave. 239 



upon a discovery so useful and valuable to the plant- 
ing interest; and all determined to provide, as soon 
as i)ossible, a proper supply of fresh river fish for their 



hanc 



The two hales of cotton were never once named, 
and, I suppose, wero not thought of by the gentlemen, 
wlini at the landing ; and fliis was well for Nero ; for 
such was the consternation and terror into which he 
was thrown by the presence of the gentlemen, and 
their incpiiries concerning our eating of meat, tliat the 
sweat ndled off him like rain from the plant ncvcr- 
tt\t ; his countenance was wild and haggard, and his 
k'lees shook like the wooden spring of a wheat-fan. 
1 believe, that if they had charged him at once with 
stealing the cotton, he wou d have confessed the deed. 



240 Fifty Years in Chains ; or. 



CHxVPTEK XII. 

After this the fishing season passed off mthout 
anything having happened, worthy of being noticed 
here. When we left the fishery and returned to the 
pLantation, which was after the middle of April, the 
corn and cotton had been planted, and the latter had 
been replanted. I was set to plough, with two mules 
for my team ; and having never been accustomed to 
idou^-hino- with these animals, I had much trouble 
with them at first. My master owned more than forty 
mules, and at this season of the year, they were all at 
work in the cotton field, used instead of horses for 
drawing ploughs. Some of the largest were hitched 
single to a plough ; but the smallest were coupled 
tosrether. 

On the whole, the fishery had been a losing affair 
with me ; for although I had lived better at the land- 
ing than I usually did at the plantation, yet I had 
been compelled to work all the time, by niglit and by 
dav, incbiding Sunday, for my master ; by which T 



The Life of an American Slave. 241 



had lost all tliat I could liave earned for my own bene- 
fit, had I heon on the plantation. I had now bocoino 
so well acquainted with tlie rules of the i)lantation 
and the customs of the country where I lived, that I 
experienced less distress than I did at my fust coming 
to the South. 

We now received a sliad every Sunday evening with 
our peek of corn. The fish were thos(« tliat I had 
caught in tin* spring, and were tolerably preserved. 
In addition to all this, each one of the hands now re- 
ceived ft pint of vinegar every week. Tliis vinegar 
was u great comfort to me. As tlie weather became 
hot, I gathered lettuce an.l nth.-,- salads, from my 
garden in the woods ; which, with the vinegar and 
bread, furnished me many a cheerful meal. The 
vinegar had been furnished to us by our master, more 
out of regard U> cur hvaltli than to our comfort, but 
it greatly })romoted both. 

The aflairs of the plantatiun now went on quietly, 
until after the cotton had been ploughed and hoed 
tlic lirst time, after replanting. The working of the 
cotton crop is not disagreeable labor— no more so than 
the culture of corn— but we were called upon to per- 
form a kind of labor, than which none can be more 
toilsome to the body or dangerous to the health. 

I have elsewliere informed the reader that my mas- 
ter was a cultivator of rice as well as of cotton. 

11 



242 Fifty Years in CJiains ; or, 

Whilst I was at the fishery in the spring, thirty acrea 
of swamp hmcl had been cleared off, ploughed and 
planted in rice. The water had now been turned off 
the plants, and the field was to he ploughed and hoed. 
When we were taken to the rice field, the weather 
was very hot, and the ground was yet niuddy and wet. 
The ploughs were to be dragged through the wet soil, 
and the young rice had to be cleaned of weeds, by the 
hand, and hilled up with the hoe. 

It is the common opinion, that no stranger can work 
a week in a rice swamp, at this season of the year, 
without becoming sick ; and all the new hands, three 
in number, besides myself, were taken ill within the 
first five days after we had entered this field. The 
other three were removed to the sick room ; but I did 
not go there, choosing rather to remain at the quarter, 
where I was my own master, except that the doctor, 
who called to see me, took a large quantity of blood 
from my arm, and compelled me to take a dose of 
some sort of medicine that made me very sick, and 
caused me to vomit violently. This happened on the 
second day of my illness, and from this time I recover- 
ed slowly, but was not able to go to the field again 
for more than a week. Here it is but justice to my 
master to say, that during all the time of my illness, 
some one came from the great house every day. to in- 
quire after me^, and to offer me some kind oC bghl and 



The Life of an American Slavt. 243 

cool refreslimcnt. I miiihtliavesone to the sick room 
cit any time, if I had chosen to do so. 

An opinion generally prevails among the people of 
both colors, that the drug copperas is very poisonous 
— and perhaps it may be so, if taken in large quauti- 
tice — hut the circumstance, that it is used in medi- 
cine, seems to forbid tlic notion of its poisonous quali- 
ties. 1 believe copperas was mingled with the potion 
the doctor gave me. Some overseers keep copperas 
by tliem, as a medicine, to be administered to the 
1 Kinds whenever they become sick ; but this I take to 
be a bad practice, for althougli, in some cases, this drug 
may be veiy efficacious, it certainly should be adminis- 
tered by a more skillful hand than that of an overseer. 
Jt, however, has the effect of deterring the people 
from complaining of illness, until they are no longer 
able to work ; for it is the most nauseous and sicken- 
ing medicine that was ever taken into the stomach. 
Ignorant, or malicious overseer may, and often do, mis- 
apply it, as was the case with our overseer, when he 
comj)elled poor Lydia to take a draught of its solution. 
After the restoration of my health, I resumed my ac- 
customed labor in the field, and continued it without 
intermission, until I left this plantation. 

We had this year, as a part of our crop, ten acres of 
indigo. This plant is worked nearly after the manner 
of rice, except that it is planted on high and dry 



244 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



ground, whilst the rice is always cultivated in low 
swamps, where the ground may be inundated with 
water ; but notwithstanding its location on dry ground, 
the culture of indigo is not less unpleasant than that 
of rice. When tne rice is ripe, and ready for the 
sickle, it is no longer disagreeable ; but when the 
indigo is ripe and ready to cut, the troubles attendant 
upon it have only commenced. 

The indigo plant bears more resemblance to the weed 
called wild indigo, which is common in the woods of 
Pennsylvania, than to any other herb with which I am 
acquainted. 

The root of the indigo j)lant is long and slender, 
and emits a scent somewhat like that of parsley. From 
the root issues a single stem, straight, hard, and slen- 
der, covered with a bark, a little cracked on its surface, 
of a gray color towards the bottom, green in the mid- 
dle, reddish at the extremity, and without the appear- 
ance of pith in the inside. The leaves ranged in pairs 
around the stalk, are of an oval form — smooth, soft to 
the touch, furrowed above, and of a deep green on the 
under side. ' The upper parts of the plant are loaded 
with small flowers, destitute of smell. Each flower 
changes into a pod, enclosing seed. 

This plant thives best in a rich, moist soil. The 
seeds are black, very small, and sowed in straight drills. 
This crop requires very careful culture, and must be 



The Life of an American Slave. 245 



kept free from every kind of weeds and grass. It 
rlp.ns within less than tlirec months from the time it 
is sown. When it begins to flower, tlic top is cut off, 
and, as new flowers appear, the plant is again pruned,' 
untd the end of the season. 

Indigo impoverishes land more rapidly tlian almost 
any other crop, and the plant must be gathered in 
with great caution, for fear of shaking off the valuable 
farina tliat lies in the leaves. When gatliered, it is 
thrown into the steeping vat— a large tub filleil with 
water— lure it undergoes a fermentation, which, in 
twenty-four hours at farthest, is completed. A Jock 
is then turned to let the water run into the second tub, 
called the mortar, or pounding tub : the steeping vat 
is then cleaned out, that fresh plants may be thmwn 
in, and thus tha work is continued without interrup- 
tion. The water in the pounding tub is stirred with 
wooden buckets, with holes in their bottoms, for several 
days ; and, after tlie sediment contained in the water 
has settled to the bottom of the tub, the water is let 
oiF, and the sediment, which is the indigo of commerce, 
is gathered into bags, and hung up to drain. It is 
afterwards pressed, and laid away to dry in cakes, and 
then packed in chests for market. 

Washing at the tubs is exceedingly unpleasant, both 
on account of the filth and the stench an'singfrom the 
decomposition of the plants 



246 Fifhj Years in Chains ; or. 



In the early part of June, our shad, that each one 
had been used to receive, was withheld from us, and 
we no longer received any thing but the peck of corn 
and pint of vinegar. This circumstance, in a commu- 
nity less severely disciplined than ours, might have 
procured murmurs ; but to us it was only announced 
by the fact of the fish not being distributed to us on 
Sunday evening. 

This was considered a fortunate season by our peo- 
ple. There had been no exemplary punishment in- 
flicted amongst us for several months ; we had escaped 
entirely upon the occasion of the stolen bags of cotton, 
though nothing less was to have been looked for, on that 
occurrence, than a general whipping of the whole gang. 

There was more or less of whipping amongst us 
every week ; frequently one was flogged every evening, 
over and above the punishments that followed on each 
settlement day ; but these chastisements, which sel- 
dom exceeded ten or twenty lashes, were of little im- 
port. I was careful, for my own part, to conform to 
all the regulations of the plantation. 

When I no longer received my fish from the over- 
seer, I found it necessary again to resort to my own ex- 
pedients for the purpose of procuring something in the 
shape of animal food, to add to my bread and greens. 

I had, by this time, become well acquainted with 
the woods and swamps for several miles round oui 



The Life of an American Slave. 247 

plantation ; and this being tlie season when the tur- 
tles came upon the land, to deposit their eggs, I avail- 
ed myself of it, and going out one Sunday morning, 
caught, in the course of the day, by traveling cautiously 
around the edges of the swamps, ten snapping turtles, 
four of which were very large. As I caught these crea- 
tures, I tied each one with hickory bark, and hung it 
up to the bough of a tree, so that I could come and 
carry it home at my leisure. 

I afterwards carried my turtles home, and put them 
into a hole that I dug in the ground, four or five feet 
deep, and secured the sides by driving small pieces of 
split timber into the ground, quite round the circum- 
ference of the hole, the upper ends of the timber stand- 
ing out above the ground. Into this hole I poured 
water at pleasure, and kept my turtles until I needed 
them. 

On the next Sunday, I again went to the swamps to 
search for turtles ; but as the period of laying their 
eggs had nearly passed, I had poor success to-day, 
only taking two turtles of the species called skill-pots 
— a kind of large terrapin, with a speckled back and 
red belly. 

This day, when I was three or four miles from home, 

in a very solitary part of the swamps, I heard the 

sound of bells, similar to those which wagoners place 

/ on the shoulders of their horses. At first, the noise of 



248 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



bells of this kind, in a place wliere tliey were so imex- 
pected, alarmed me, as I could not imagine who or 
what it was that was causinoj these bells to rino-. I 
was standing near a pond of water, and listening at- 
tentively ; I thought the bells were moving in the 
woods, and coming toward me. I therefore crouched 
down upon the ground, under cover of a cluster of 
small bushes that were near me, and lay, not free from 
disquietude, to await the near aj^proach of these mys- 
terious bells. 

Sometimes they Avere quite silent for a minute or 
more at a time, and then again would jingle quick, 
but not loud. They were evidently approaching me ; 
and at length I heard footsteps distinctly in the leaves, 
which lay dry upon the ground. A feeling of horror 
seized me at this moment, for I now recollected that I 
was on the verge of the swamp, near which the vul- 
tures and carrion crows had mangled the living bodies 
of the two murderers ; and my terror was not abated, 
when, a moment after, I saw come from behind a large 
tree the form of a brawny, famished-looking black man, 
entirely naked, with his hair matted and shaggy, his 
eyes wild and rolling, and bearing over his head some- 
thing in the form of an arch, elevated three feet above 
his hair, beneath the top of which were suspended the 
bells, three in number, whose sound had first attracted 
my attention. Upon a closer examination of this 



The Life of an American ^lave. 249 



frightful figure, I perceived tliat it wore a collar of 
iron about its neck, with a large padlock pendant from 
behind, and carried in its hand a long staff, with an 
iron spear in one end. The staff, like every thing else 
belonging to this strange spectre, was black. It slowly 
approached within ten j^aces of me, and stool still. 

The sun was now down, and the early twilight pro- 
duced by the gloom of the heavy forest, in the midst of 
which I was, added approaching darkness to heighten 
my dismay. My heart was in my mouth ; all the 
hairs of my head started from their sockets ; I seemed 
to be rising from my hiding place into the open air, 
in spite of myself, and I gasped for breath. 

The black apparition moved past me, went to the 
water and kneeled down. The forest re-echoed with 
the sound of the bells, and their dreadful peals filled 
the deepest recesses of the swamps, as their bearer 
drank the water of the pond, in which I thought I 
heard his irons hiss, when they came in contact with it. 
I felt confident that I was now in the immediate pre- 
sence of an inhabitant of a nether and fiery world, who 
had been permitted to escape, for a time, from the place 
of torment, and come to revisit the scenes of his 
former crimes. I now gave myself up for lost, without 
other aid than my own, and began to pray aloud to 
heaven to protect me. At the sound of my voice, the 
supposed evil one appeared to be scarcely less alarmed 

11* 



250 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

than I was. He sprang to his feet, and, at a single 
bonnd, rushed middeep into the water, then turning, 
he besought me in a suppliant and piteous tone of 
voice, to have mercy uj)on him, and not carry him hack 
to his master. 

The suddenness with which we pass from the ex- 
treme of one passion, to the utmost hounds of another, 
is inconceivable, and must be assigned to the catalogue 
of unknown causes and effects, unless we suppose the 
human frame to be an involuntary machine, operated 
upon by surrounding objects which give it different 
and contrary impulses, as a ball is driven to and fro 
by the batons of boys, when they play in troops uj)on 
a common. I had no sooner heard a human voice 
than all my fears fled, as a spark that ascends from a 
heap of burning charcoal, and vanishes to nothing. 

I at once perceived, that the object that had well 
nigh deprived me of my reason, so far from having 
either the will or the power to injure me, was only a 
poor destitute African negro, still more wretched and 
helpless than myself. 

Eising from the bushes, I now advanced to the wa- 
ter side, and desired him to come out without fear, and 
to be assured that if I could render him any assistance, 
I would do it most cheerfully. As to carrying him 
back to his master, I was more ready to ask help to 
dehver me from my own, than to give aid to any one 
In for'^in or In'm hnck to his. 



TIlc Life of an American Slave. 251 



Wc now went to a place in the forest, where the 
ground was, for some distance, clear of trees, and 
where the light of the sun was yet so strong, that 
every ohject could be seen. My new friend now desired 
me to look at his back, which was seamed and ridged 
witli scars of tlio wliip, and the hickory, from the pole 
of his neck to the lower extremity of the spine. The 
natural color of the skin had disappeared, and was suc- 
ceeded by a streaked and s])ecklcd appearance of dusky 
white and pale flesh-color, scarcely any of the original 
black remaining. Tlie skin of this man's back had 
been again and again cut away by the thong, and re- 
newed by the hand of nature, until it was grown fast 
to the flesh, and felt hard and turbid. 

He told me his name was Paul ; tliat he was a na- 
tive of Congo, in Africa, that he had left an aged 
motlier, a widow, at home, as also a wife and four 
children ; that it had been his misfortune to fall into 
the hands of a master, who was frequently drunk, and 
whose temper was so savage, that his chief delight 
appeared to consist in whipping and torturing his 
slaves, of whom he owned near twenty ; but through 
some unaccountable caprice, he had contracted a par- 
ticular dislike against Paul, whose life he now declared 
to me was insupportable. He had then been wander- 
ing in the woods, more than three weeks, with no other 
subsistence than the land tortoises, frogs, and other 



252 Fifty Years in Chains ; or. 



reptiles that he had taken in the woods, and along 
the shores of the ponds, with the aid of his spear. He 
had not been able to take any of the turtles in the 
lajdng season, because the noise of his bells frightened 
them, and they always escaped to the water before he 
could catch them. He had found many eggs, which 
he had eaten raw, having no fire, nor any means of 
raakin<r fire, to cook his food. He had been afraid to 
travel much in the middle of the day, lest the sound 
of his bells should be heard by some one, who would 
make his master acquainted with the place of his con- 
cealment. The only periods when he ventured to go 
in search of food, were early in the morning, before 
people could have time to leave their homes and rearch 
the swamp : or late in the evening, after those who 
were in pursuit of him had gone to their dwellings for 
the night. 

This man spoke our language imperfectly, but pos- 
sessed a sound and vigorous understanding, and rea- 
soned with me upon the propriety of destroying a life 
which was doomed to continual distress. He informed 
me that he had first run away from his master more 
than two years ago, after being whipped with long 
hickory switches until he fainted. That he concealed 
himself in a swamp, at that time, ten or fifteen miles 
from this 2)lace, for more than six months, but waa 
finally betraj^ed by a woman whom he sometimes 



I 



Tke Life of an American Slave. 253 

vi^ito^l ; that wlicn taken, lie was ap^aiii ^vllippell un- 
til he was not able to stand, and had a licavy block 
of wood cliained to one foot, which lie was obliged to 
drag after him at his daily labor, fnr more than threes 
months, wlien he found an old fih>, wi;h whirh \\v cut 
the irons itoiw his ancle, and again escaped to the 
woods, but was retaken witJiin little more than a week 
after liis llight, by two men who were looking after 
their cattle, and came upon him in the woods where 
lie was asleep. 

On Ix^ing relumed to his master, he was again wliij)- 
pcd, and then the iron collar that he now wore, with 
the iron rod extendincr from one shoulder over his 
head to the other, with the bells fastened at the top 
of the arch, were ])Ut upon him. Of these irons he 
could not divest himself, and wore them constantly 
from that time to the present. 

I had no instruments with me to enable me to re- 
lease Paul from his manacles, and all I could do for 
him was to desire him to go with me to the place 
where I had left my terrapins, which I gave to him, 
together with all the eggs that I had f nind to-day. I 
also caused him to lie down, and having furnished 
myself with a flint-stone, (many of which lay in the 
sand near the edge of the pond) and a handful cf dry 
moss, I succeeded in striking fire from the iron collar^ 
and made a fire of sticks, upon which he could roast 



254 Fifty Years in Cliains ; 



oi\ 



the tcrrai^ins and the eggs. It was now quite dark, 
and I was full two miles from my road, with no 
path to guide me towards home, but the small traces 
made in the woods by the cattle. 

I advised Paul to bear his misfortunes as well as he 
could, until the next Sunday, when I would return 
and bring with me a file, and other things necessary 
to the removal of his fetters. 

I now set out alone, to make my way home, not 
without some little feeling of trepidation, as I passed 
along in the dark shade of the pine trees, and thought 
of the terrific deeds that had been done in these woods. 

This was the period of the full moon, which now 
rose and cast her brilliant rays through the tops of the 
trees that overhung my way, and enveloped my path 
in a gloom more cheerless than the obscurity of total 
darkness. The path I traveled led by sinuosities 
around the margin of the swamp, and finally ended al 
the extremity of the cart-road terminating at the spot 
where David and Hardy had been given alive for food 
to vultures ; and over this ground I was now obliged 
to pass, unless I chose to turn far to the left, through 
the pathless forest, and make my way to the high 
road near the spot where the lady had been torn from 
her horse. I hated the idea of acknowledging to my 
own heart, that I was a coward, and dared not look 
upon the bones of a murderer at midnight ; and there 



The Life f an American Slave. 255 

was little less of awe attached to the notion of visitin^^ 

o 

the ground where the ghost of the murdered woman 
was reported to wander in the moonbeams, than in 
visiting the ficcne where diabolical crimes had been 
visited by fiend-like punishment. 

My opinion is, that there is no one who is not at 
times subject to a sensation approaching fear, when 
placed in situations similar to that in which I found 
myself this night. I did not believe that those who 
had passed the dark line, which separates tlu^ living 
from the dead, could again return to the earth, either 
for good or for evil ; but that solemn foreboding of 
tlie heart which directs the minds of all men to a con- 
templation of the just judgment, which a superior, and 
unknown ])OW(r, holds in reservation for tlic deeds of 
this life, fdled my soul with a dread conception of 
the unutterable woes whi.ch a rif^hteous and unerrinjr 
tribunal must award to the blood-stained spirits of 
the two men whose lives had been closed in such un- 
speakable tonnent by the side of the i)atli I was now 
treading. 

The moon had risen high above the trees and shone 
with a clear and cloudless light ; the whole firmament 
of heaven was radiant with the lustre of a mild and 
balmy summer evening. Save only the droppings of 
the early dew from the lofty branches of the trees into 
tlie water, which lay in shallow pools on my right, 



256 Fifty Years in Chairjs ; or, 



and the liglit trampling of my own footsteps, the still- 
ness of night pervaded the lonely wastes around me. 
But there is a deep melancholy in the sound of the 
heavy drop as it meets the bosom of the wave in a 
dense forest at night, that revives in the memory the 
recollection of the days of other years, and fills the 
heart with sadness. 

I was now approaching the unhallowed ground 
where lay the remains of the remorseless and guilty 
dead, who had gone to their final account, reeking in 
their sins, unatoned, unblest and unwept. Already 
I saw the bones, whitened by the rain and bleached 
in the sun, lying scattered and dispersed, a leg here 
and an arm there, while a scull with the under jaw in 
its place, retaining all its teeth, grinned a ghastly 
laugh, with its front full in the beams of the moon, 
which, falling into the vacant sockets of the eye-balls, 
reflected a pale shadow from these deserted caverns, 
and played in twinkling lusti-e upon the bald and 
skinless forehead. 

In a moment, the night-breeze agitated the leaves 
of the wood and moaned in dreary sighs through the 
lofty pine tops ; the gale shook the forest in the depth 
of its solitudes : a cloud swept across the moon, and 
her light disappeared ; a flock of carrion crows dis- 
turbed in their roosts, flapped their wings and flutter- 
ed over my head ; and a wolf, who had been knawing 



The Life of an American Slave. 257 

llio (Irv bones, crroctcd the darkness "with .1 loii'j^ and 
dismal liowl. 

I felt the blood chill in my veins, and all my joints 
shuddered, as if I had been smitten by electricity. 
At least a minute elapsed before I recovered the power 
of self-government. I hastened to fly from a place 
devoted to crime, where an evil genius presided in 
darkness over a fell assembly of howling wolves, and 
blood-snuHing vultures. 

AVhen I arrived at the quarter, all was quiet. The 
inhabitants of this mock-village were wrapped in fur- 
getfulness ; and I stole silently into my little loft and 
joined my neighbors in tin ir n'])ose. Experience had 
made mc so well acquainted with the dangers that 
beset the life of a slave, that I determined, as a mat- 
ter of prudence, to say nothing to any one of the ad- 
ventures of this Sunday, but went to work on Monday 
morning, at the summons of the overseer's horn, as if 
nothing unusual had occurred. In the course of the 
week I often thought of the forlorn and desponding 
African, who had so terrified me in the woods, and 
who seemed so grateful for the succor I gave him. I 
felt anxious to become better acquainted with this 
man, who possessed knowledge superior to the com- 
mon race of slaves, and manifested a moral courage in 
the conversation that I had with him, worthy of a 
better fate than that to which fortune had consigned 



258 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

him. On the following Suncla}^, having provided my- 
self with a large file, which I j^rocured from the black- 
smith's shop, belonging to the plantation, I again re- 
paired to the place, at the side of the swamj:), where 
I had first seen the figure of this ill-fated man. I ex- 
pected that he would be in waiting for me at the ap- 
pointed place, as I had promised him that I would 
certainly come again, at this time : but on arriving 
at the spot where I had left him, I saw no sign of any 
person. The remains of the fire I had kindled were 
liere, and it seemed that the fire had been kept up for 
several days, by the quantity of ashes that lay in a 
heap, surrounded by numerous small brands. The 
imj)ressions of human feet were thickly disposed around 
this decayed fire : and the bones of the terrapins that 
I had given to Paul, as well as the skeletons of many 
frogs, were scattered upon the ground, but there was 
nothing that showed that any one had visited this 
spot, since the fall of the last rain, which I now recol- 
lected had taken place on the j)revious Thursday. 
From this circumstance I concluded, that Paul had 
relieved himself of his irons and gone to seek conceal- 
ment in so'me other place, or that his master had 
discovered his retreat and carried him back to the 
plantation. 

Whilst standing at the ashes I heard the croaking 
of ravens at some distance in the woods, and immedi- 



The Life of an American Slave. 259 



diatc-ly afterwards a turkey-buzzard passed over me 
pursued hy an eagle, coming from tlic quarter iu which 
T liad just heard the ravens. I knew tliat the eagle 
never pursued the buzzard for the purpose of preying 
upon him, but onty to compel him to disgorge himself 
of his own prey for the benefit of the king of birds. I 
therefore concluded that there was some dead animal 
in my neighborhood that had called all these ravenous 
fowls *t.)gether. It might be that Paul had killed a 
cow by knocking lier down with a pine knot, and that 
lie had removed his residence to this slaughtered ani- 
mal. Curiosity was aroused in me, and I proceeded 
to examine the woods. 

I had not advanced more than two hundred yards 
when I felt oppressed by a most sickening stench, and 
saw the trees swarming with birds of prey, buzzards 
perched upon th<ir branches, ravens sailing amongst 
their boughs, and clouds of carrion crows flitting about, 
and poising themselves in the air in a stationary posi- 
tion, after the manner of that most nauseous of all 
birds, when it perceives, or thinks it perceives, some 
object of prey. Proceeding onward, I came in view of 
a large sassafras tree, around the top of which was 
congregated a cloud of crows, some on the boughs and 
others on the wing, whilst numerous buzzards were 
sailing low and nearly skimming the ground. This 
sassafras tree had many low horizontal branches, at- 



260 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

tached to one of which I now saw the cause of so vast 
an assembly of the obscene fowls of the air. The life- 
less and imtrid body of the unhappy Paul hung sus- 
pended by a cord made of twisted hickory bark, passed 
in the form of a halter round thB neck, and firmly 
bound to a limb of the tree. 

It was manifest that he had climbed the tree, fast- 
ened the cord to the branch, and then sprung off. — 
The smell that assailed my nostrils was too overwhelm- 
ing to permit me to remain long in view of the dead 
body, which was much mangled and torn, though its 
identity was beyond question, for the iron collar, and 
the bells with the arch that bore them, were still in 
their place. The bells had preserved the corpse from 
being devoured ; for w^hilst I looked at it I observed a 
crow descend upon it, and make a stroke at the face 
with its beak, but the motion that this gave to the 
bells caused them to rattle, and the bird took to flight. 

Seeing that I could no longer render assistance to 
Paul, who was now beyond the reach of his master's 
tyranny, as well as of my pity, I returned without de- 
lay to my master's house, and going into the kitchen, 
related to the household servants that I had found a 
black man hung in the w^oods with bells upon him. — 
This intelligence was soon communicated to my mas- 
ter, who sent for me to come into the house to relate 
the circumstance to him. I was careful not to tell 



The Life of an American Slave. 



2G1 



that I had scon Taul beforo his ch^Mh ; aiul wlim I 
had finished my narrative, my master observed to a 
gentleman who was with liim, that tliis was a heavy 
h)ss to the owner, and told me to go. 

The body of Taiil was never taken d^wn, but n- 
mained hanging where I had seen it until tl.e Heeh 
frll from the bones, or was torn (.a'by tlio binls. I 
saw the bones hanging in the sassafras tree more than 
two months afterwards, and the last time that I was 
ever in tliese swamps. 



2G2 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



CHAPTEK XIII. 



An allair was now in progress, which, though the 
persons who w^ere actors in it were far removed from 
me, had in its effects a great influence upon the for- 
tunes of my h'fe. I have informed the reader that my 
master had three daughters, and that the second of 
the sisters w^as deemed a great beauty. The eldest of 
the three was married about the time of which I now 
write, to a planter of great wealth, who resided near 
Columbia ; but the second had formed an attachment 
to a young gentleman whom she had frequently seen 
at the church attended by my master's family As this 
young man, either from want of wealth, or proper jier- 
sons to introduce him, had never been at my master's 
house, my young mistress had no opportunity of com- 
municating to him the sentiments she entertained to- 
wards him, without violating the rules of modesty in 
which she had been educated. Before she would at- 
tempt any thing which might be deemed a violation 
of the decorum of her sex, she determined to take a 



he Life of an American Slave. 2G3 



now method of obtaining a husband. She communi- 
cated to her father, my master, a knowledge of the 
whole affiiir, with a desire that he would invite the 
gentleman of her choice to his house. This the father 
resolutely opposed, upon the ground that the young 
man upon whom his daughter had fixed her heart was 
without property, and consequently destitute of the 
means of supporting his daughter in a style suitable 
to the rank she occupied in society. A w^oraan in love 
Is not easily foiled in her purposes ; my young mis- 
tress, by continual entreaties, so far prevailed over the 
affections, or more probably the fears of her father, 
that he introduced the young man to his flimily, and 
about two months afterwards my young mistress was 
a bride ; but it had been agreed amongst all the par- 
ties, as I understood, before the marriage, that as the 
son-in-law had no land or slaves of his own, he should 
remove with his wife to a large tract of land that 
my master owned in the new purchase in the State of 
Georgia. 

In the month of September, my master came to the 
quarter one evening, at the time of our return from 
the field, in company with his son-in-law, and in- 
formed me that he had given me, with a number of 
others of his slaves, to his daughter : and that I, with 
eif^ht other men and two or three women, must set 
out on the next Sunday with my new master, for his 



26*4 Fifhj Years in Chains ; or, 

estate in Georgia, wliitlier we were to go, to clear land, 
build houses, and make other improvements, necessary 
for the reception of the newly married lady, in the fol- 
lowing spring. 

I was much pleased with the appearance and man- 
ners of my new master, who was a young man appa- 
rently about twenty-seven or eight years old, and of 
good figure. Wo were to take with us, in our expedi- 
tion to Georgia, a wagon, to be drawn by six mules, 
and I was appointed to drive the team. Before we 
set off my young mistress came in person to the quar- 
ter, and told us that all those who were going to the 
new settlement must come to the house, where she 
furnished each of us with two full suits of clothes, one 
of coarse woollen, and the other of hempen cloth. She 
also gave a hat to each of us, and two pairs of shoes, 
with a trifle in money, and enjoined us to be good boys 
and girls, and get things ready for her, and that when 
she should come to live with us Ave should not be for- 
gotten. The conduct of this young lady was so differ- 
ent from that which I had been accustomed to witness 
since I came to Carolina, that I considered myself 
highly fortunate in becoming her slave, and now con- 
o-ratulated myself with the idea that I should, in fu- 
ture, have a mistress who would treat me kindly, and 
if I behaved well, would not permit me to want. 

At the time appointed we set out for Georgia, with 



TJie Life of an American Slave. 



265 



all tlie tools and implements necessary to the prosecu- 
tion of a new settlement. My young master accom- 
panieJ us, and traveled slowly for several days to en- 
able me to keep up with him. We contimied our 
march in this order until we reached the Savannah 
river at the town of Augusta, where my master told 
me that he was so well satisfied with my conduct, that 
he intended to leave me with the team to bring on 
the goods and the women and children ; but thai he 
would take the men and push on as fast as possible, 
to the new settlement, and go to work until the time 
of my arrival. He gave me directions to foUow on 
and inquire for il organ county Court House, and said 
that he would have a person ready there on my arrival 
to guide me to him and the people with him. He 
then gave me twenty dollars to buy food for the mules 
and provisions for myself and those with me, and left 
me on the high road master of myself and the team. 
I was resolved that this striking proof of confidence on 
the part of my master should not be a subject of re- 
gret to him, and pursued my route with the greatest 
diligence, taking care to lay out as little money as 
possible for such things as I had to buy. On the sixth 
day, in the morning, I arrived at our new settlement 
in the middle of a heavy forest of such timber as is 
common to that country, with three doUars and twenty, 
five cents in my pocket, part of the money given to 



266 Fifty Years in Chains-; or 



me at Augusta. This I offered to return, lut my 
master refused to take it, and told me to keep it for 
my good conduct. I now felt assured that all my 
troubles in this world were ended, and that, in future, 
I might look forward to a life of happiness and ease, 
for I did not consider labor any hardship, if I was weil 
provided with good food and clothes, and my other 
wants properly regarded. 

My master and the people who were with him had, 
before our arrival with the wagon, put up the logs of 
two cabins, and were engaged, when we came, in cov- 
ering one of them with clapboards. In the course of 
the next day we comi^leted both these cabins, with 
puncheon floors and small glass windows, the sash and 
glass for which I had brought in the wagon. We put 
up two other cabins, and a stable for the mules, and 
then began to clear land. After a few days my master 
told me he meant to go down into the settlements Jo 
buy provisions for the winter, and that he should 
leave me to oversee the hands, and carry on the work 
in his absence.. He accordingly left us, taking with 
him the wagon and two boys, one to drive the team, 
and another to drive cattle and hogs, which he intend- 
ed to buy and drive to our settlement. I now felt 
myself almost proprietor of our new estabhshment, 
and believe the men left under my charge did not 
consider me a very lenient overseer. I in truth com- 



The Life of an American Slave. 267 



pelled tliem to work very hard, as I did myself. At 
the end of a week my master returned witli a lieavy 
load of meal and bacon, with salt and other tilings 
that we needed, and the day following a white man 
drove to our station several cows and more than twenty 
hogs, the greater part of which were breeders. At 
this season of the year neither the hogs nor the cattl'e 
required any feeding at our hands. The woods were 
full of nuts, and the grass was abundant ; but we 
gave salt to our stock, and kept the hogs in a pen two 
or three days, to accustom them to tlic place. 

We now lived very differently from what we did on 
my old master's plantation. We had as much bacon 
every day as we could eat, which, together with bread 
and sweet pototocs, which we had at will, constituted 
our fare. My master remained with us more than 
two months ; within which time we had cleared furty 
acres of ground, ready for the plough ; but, a few days 
before Christmas, an event took place, which, in its 
consequences, destroyed all my prospects of happiness, 
and totally changed the future path of my life. A 
messenger one day came to our settlement with a let- 
ter, which had been forwarded in this manner, by the 
postmaster at the Court House, where the post-office 
was kept. This letter contained intelligence of the 
sudden death of my old master, and that difficulties 
had arisen in the family which required the immediate 



268 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

attention of my young one. The letter was written 
by my mistress. My master fortliwith took an ac- 
count of tlie stock of provisions and other things that 
he had on hand, and putting the whole under my 
charfre, o:ave me directions to attend to the work, and 
set off on horseback that evening ; promising to return 
within one month at furthest. We never saw him 
aj]:ain, and heard nothinir of him until late in the 
month of January, when the eldest son of my late 
master came to our settlement in company with a 
strange gentleman. The son of my late master in- 
formed me, to my surprise and sorrow, that my young 
master, who had brought us to Georgia, was dead ; 
and that he and the gentleman with him, were ad- 
ministrators of the deceased, and had come to Georgia 
for the purpose of letting out on lease, for the period 
of seven years, our place, with all the people on it, 
including me. 

To me, the most distressing part of this news was 
the death of my young master, and I was still more sor- 
ry when I learned that he had been killed in a duel. 
My young mistress, whose beauty had drawn around 
her numerous suitors, many of whom were men of 
base minds and cowardly hearts, had chosen her hus- 
band, in the manner I have related, and his former 
rivals, after his return from Georgia, confederated to- 
gether, for the dastardly purpose of revenging them- 



The Life of an American Slave. 269 

selves, of both husband and wife, by the murder of 
the former. 

In all parts of the cotton country there are numer- 
ous taverns, wliich answer the double purpose of drink- 
ing and gambling houses. These places are kept by 
men who are willing to abandon all pretensions to the 
character and standing of gentlemen, for the hope of 
sordid gain, and are frequented by all classes of plant- 
ers, though it is not to be understood that all the 
j)lanters resort to these houses. There are men of 
high and honorable virtue among the planters, who 
equally detest the mean cupidity of the men who keep 
these houses, and the silly wickedness of those who 
support them. Billiards is the game regarded as the 
most polite amongst men of education and fashion ; 
but cards, dice and every kind of game, whether of 
skill or of hazard, are openly played in these sinks of 
iniquity. So far as my knowledge extends, there is 
not a single district of ten miles square, in all the 
cotton recrion, without at least one of these vile ordi- 
naries, as they are frequently and justly termed. The 
keeping of these houses is a means of subsistence re- 
sorted to by men of desperate reputation, or reckless 
character, and they invite as guests all the profligate, 
the drunken, the idle, and the unwary of the surround- 
ing country. In a community where the white man 
never works, except at the expense of forfeiting all 



270 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or. 



claim to the rank of a gentleman, and where it is be- 
neath the dignity of a man to oversee the labor of his 
own plantation, the number of those who frequent 
these gaming houses may be imagined. 

My young master, fortunately for his own honoi, 
was of those who kept aloof from the precincts of the 
tavern, unless compelled by necessary business to go 
there ; but the band of conspirators, who had resolved 
on his destruction, invited him through one of their 
number, who pretended to wish to treat with him con- 
cerning his property, to meet them at an ordinary one 
evening. Here a quarrel was sought with him, and 
he was challenged to fight with pistols, over the table 
around which they sat. 

My master, who, it appears, was unable to bear the 
reproach of cowardice, even amongst fools, agreed to 
fight, and as he had no pistols with him, was present- 
ed with a pair belonging to one of the gang ; and 
accepted their owner, as his friend, or second in the 
business. The result was as might have been ex- 
pected. My master was killed at the first fire, by a 
ball which passed through his breast, whilst his an- 
tagonist escaped unharmed. 

A servant was immediately despatched with a letter 
to my mistress, informing her of the death of her hus- 
band. She was awakened in the night to read the 
letter, the bearer having informed her maid that it 



The Life of an American Slave. 271 

was necessary for her to see it immediately. Tlio 
shock drove her into a feverish delirium, from which 
she never recovered. At periods, her reason resumed 
its dominion, Lnt in the summer following, she became 
a mother, and died in child-bed, of puerperal fever. 
I obtained this account from the mouth of a black 
man, who was the traveling servant of the eldest son 
of my old master, and who was with his master at the 
time lie came to visit the tenant, to whom he let his 
sister's estate in Georgia. 

The estate to which I wa.s now attached, was ad- 
vertised to be rented for the term of seven years, with 
all tlie stock of mules, cattle, and so forth, upon it — 
together with seventeen slaves, six of whom were too 
young to be able to work at present. The price asked, 
was one thousand dollars for the first year, and two 
thousand dollars for each of the six succeeding years ; 
the tenant to be bound, to clear thirty acres of land 
annually. 

Before the day on which the estate was to be let, 
by the terms of the advertisement, a man came up 
from the neighborhood of Savannah, and agreed to 
take the new plantation, on the terms asked. He was 
immediately put into possession of the premises, and 
from this moment,' I became his slave for the term of 
seven years. 

Fortune had now thrown me into the power of a new 



272 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



master, of whom, when I considered the part of the 
country from whence he came, which had always been 
represented to me as distinguished for the cruelty with 
which slaves were treated in it, I had no reason to 
expect much that was good. I had indeed, from the 
moment I saw this new master, and had learned the 
place of his former residence, made up my mind to 
prepare myself for a harsh servitude ; hut as we are 
often disappointed for the worse, so it sometimes hap- 
pens, that we are deceived for the better. This man 
was by no means so bad as I was prepared to find him ; 
and yet, I experienced all the evils in his service, that 
I had ever apprehended ; but I could never find in 
my heart to entertain a revengeful feeling towards him, 
for he was as much a slave as I was ; and I believe of 
the two, the greater sufferer. Perhaps the evils he 
endured himself, made him more compassionate of the 
sorrows of others ; but notwithstanding the injustice 
that was done me while with him, I could never look 
upon him as a bad man. 

At the time he took possession of the estate, he was 
alone, and did not let us know that he had a wife, until 
after he had been with us at least two weeks. One 
day, however, he called us together, and told us that 
he was going down the country, to bring up his fam- 
ily — that he wished us to go on with the work on the 
place in the manner he pointed out ; and telling the 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 273 

rest of the hands that they must obey ray orders, he 
left us. He was gone full two weeks ; and when he 
returned, I had all the cleared land planted in cotton, 
corn, and sweet potatoes, and had progressed with the 
business of the plantation so much to his satisiliction, 
that he gave rac a dollar, with which I bought a pair 
of new trowsers — my old ones having been worn out in 
clearing the new Lindj and burning logs. 

My master's fiimily, a wife and one child, came with 
him ; and my new mistress soon caused me to regret 
the death of my former young master, for other rea- 
sons than those of affection and esteem. 

This woman (though she was my mistress, I cannot 
call her lady,) was the daughter of a very wealthy 
planter, who resided near Milledgeville, and had sev- 
eral children besides my mistress. My master was a 
native of North Carolina — had removed to Georgia 
several years before this — had acquired some property, 
and was married to my mistress more than two years, 
when I became his slave for a term of years, as I have 
stated. I saw many families, and was acquainted with 
the moral character of many ladies while I lived in the 
South ; but I must, in justice to the country, say that 
my new mistress was the worst woman I ever saw 
amongst the southern people. Her temper was as bad 
as that of a speckled viper ; and her language, when 
she was enraged, was a mere vocabulary of profanity and 
vinilence. 12''* 



274 Fifty Yems in Chains : or, 



My master and mistress brought with them when 
they came twelve slaves, great and small, seven of 
whom were able to do field work. We now had on 
our new place a very respectable force ; and my mas- 
ter was a man who understood the means of procuring 
a good day's work from his hands, as well as any of his 
neighbors. He was also a man who, when left to pur- 
sue his own inclinations, was kind and humane in his 
temper and conduct towards his people ; and if he had 
possessed courage enough to whip his wife two or three 
times, as he sometimes whipped his slaves, and to com- 
pel her to observe a rule of conduct befitting her sex, 
I should have had a tolerable time of my servitude 
with him ; and should, in all probability, have been a 
slave in Georgia until this day. Before my mistress 
came, we had meat in abundance, for my master had 
left his keys with me, and I dealt out the provisions 
to the people. 

Lest my master should complain of me at his return, 
or suspect that I had not been faithful to my trust, I 
had only allowed ourselves (for I fared in common 
with the others) one meal of meat in each day. We 
had several cows that supplied us with milk, and a 
barrel of molasses was among the stores of provisions. 
We had mush, sweet potatoes, milk, molasses, and 
sometimes butter for breakfast and supper, and meat 
for dinner. Had we been permitted to enjoy this fine 



The Life of an American Slave. 275 



fare after the arrival of our mistress, and had she been 
a woman of kindly disposition and lady-like manners, 
I should have considered myself wel. olf in the world ; 
for I was now living in as good a country as I ever saw, 
and I much doubt if there is a better one any where! 
Our mistress gave us a specimen of her character on 
the first morning after her arrival amongst us, by beat- 
ing severely, with a raw cow-hide, the black girl who 
nursed the infant, because the child cried, and could 
not be kept silent. I perceived by this that my mis- 
tress possessed no control over her passions ; and that 
when enraged she would find some victim to pour her 
fury upon, without regard to justice or mercy. 

When we were called to dinner to-day, we had no 
meat, and a very short sui^ply of bread ; our meal be- 
ing composed of badly cooked sweet potatoes, some 
bread, and a very small quantity of sour milk. From 
this time our allowance of meat was withdrawn from 
us altogether, and we had to live upon our bread, po- 
tatoes, and the little milk that our mistress permitted 
us to have. The most vexatious part of the new dis- 
cipline was the distinction that was made between us 
who were on the plantation before our mistress came 
to it, and the slaves that she brought with her. To 
these latter, she gave the best part of the sour milk, 
all the buttei-milk, and I believe frequently rations of 
meat. 



276 Fifty Years in Chains', or, 



We were not on our part (I mean us of the old 
stock) wholly without meat, for our master sometimes 
gave us a whole flitch of bacon at once ; this he had 
stolen from his own smoke-house — I say stolen, because 
he took it without the knowledge of my mistress, and 
always charged us in the most solemn manner not to 
let her know that we had received it. She was as neg- 
ligent of the duties of a good housewife, as she was 
arrogant in assuming the control of things not within 
the sphere of her domestic duties, and never missed 
the bacon that our master gave to us, because she had 
not taken the trouble of examining the state of the 
meat-house. Obtaining all the meat we ate by stealth, 
through our master, our supplies were not regular, 
coming once or twice a week, according to circum- 
stances. However, as I was satisfied of the good in- 
tentions of my master towards me, I felt interested in 
his welfare, and in a short time became warmly attach- 
ed to him. He fared but little better at the hands of 
my mistress than I did, except as he ate at the same 
table with her, he always had enough of comfortable 
food ; but in the matter of ill language, I believe my 
master and I might safely have put our goods together 
as a joint stock in trade, without either the one or the 
other being greatly the loser. I had secured the good 
opinion of my master, and it was perceivable by any 
one that he had more confidence in me than in any of 



I 



The Life of an American SU "e. 277 



his other slaves, and often treated me a the foreman 
of his people. 

This aroused the indignation of my uiistress, who, 
with all her ill qualities, retained a sort of L^lfish esteem 
fur the slaves who had come with herfrcm her father's 
estate. She seldom saw me without giving me her 
customary salutation of profanity ; and she exceeded 
all other persons tliat I have ever known in the quick- 
ness and sarcasm of the jibes and jeers with which she 
seasoned her oaths. To form any fair conception of 
her volubility and scurrilous wit, it was necessary to 
hear her, more especially on Sunday morning or a 
rainy day, when thcx people were all loitering about 
the kitchens, which stood close round her dwelling. 
She treated my master with no more ceremony than 
she did me. Misery loves company, it is said, and T 
verily believe that my master and I felt a mutual at- 
tachment on account of our mutual sufferings. 



278 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or^ 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The country I now lived in was new, and abounded 
wit\\ every sort of game common to a new settlement. 
Wages were liigli, and I could sometimes earn a dollar 
and a half a day by doing job work on Sunday. The 
price of a day's work here was a dollar. My master 
paid me regularly and fairly for all the work I did for 
him on Sunday, and I never went anywhere else to 
procure work. All his other hands were treated in the 
same way. He also gave me an old gun that had 
seen much hard service, for the stock was quite shat- 
tered to pieces, and the lock would not strike fire. I 
took my gun to a blacksmith in the neighborhood, and 
he repaired the lock, so that my musket was as sure 
fire as any piece need be. I found upon trial that 
though the stock and lock- had been worn out, the 
barrel was none the worse for the service it had under- 
gone. 

I now, for the first time ir my life, became a hunter, 
in the proper sense of the word ; and generally mana- 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 279 

ged my affairs in such a way as to get the half of 
Saturday to mynelf This I did hy prevailing on my 
master to set my task for the week on Monday morn- 

Saturday was appropriated to hunting, if I was not 
ohliged to ^A'ork all day, and I soon hccame pretty ex- 
port in the use of my gun. I made salt licks in the 
woods, to which the deer came at night, and I shot 
them from a scat of claj)hoards that was placed on the 
branches of a tree. Kaccoons abounded here, and 
were of a large size, and fat at all seasons. In the 
month of April I saw the ground thickly strewed with 
nuts, the growUi of the last year. I now began to 
live well, notw'thstanding the j^ersecution that my 
mistress still directed against me, and to feel myself, 
m some measure, an independent man. 

Tlic temper of my mistress grew worse daily, and to 
add to my troubl 3s, the health of my master began to 
decline, and towards the latter part of autumn he told 
me that already he felt the symptoms of approaching 
death. 

This was a source of much anxiety and trouble to 
me, for I saw clearly, if I ever fell under the unbridled 
dominion of my mistress, I should regret the worst 
period of my servitude in South Carolina. I was 
afraid as winter came on that my master might grow 
worse and pass away in the spring— for his disease was 
the consumption of the lungs. 



280 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 

We passed this winter in clearing land^ after we had 
secured the crops of cotton and corn, and nothing hap- 
pened on our plantation to disturb the usual monotony 
of the life of a slave, except that in the month of 
January, my master informed me that he intended to 
go to Savannah for the purpose of purchasing groceries, 
and such other sup2)lies as might be required on the 
plantation, in the following season ; and that he in- 
tended to take down a load of cotton with our wagon 
and team, and that I must prepare to be the driver. 
This intelligence was not disagreeable to me, as the 
trip to Savannah would, in the first place, release me 
for a short time from the tyranny of my mistress, and 
in the second, would give me an opportunity of seeing 
a great deal of strange country. I derived a third ad- 
vantage, in after times, from this journey, but which 
did not enter into my estimate of this affair, at that 
time. 

My master had not yet erected a cotton-gin on his 
place — the land not being his own — and we hauled 
our cotton, in the seed, nearly three miles to be ginned, 
for which we had to give one-fourth to the owner of 
the gin. 

When the time of my departure came, I loaded my 
wagon with ten bales of cotton, and set cut with the 
same team of six mules that I had driven from South 
Carolina. Nothing of moment happened to me until 



The Life of an Ajmrican Shivc. 281 

the evening of the fourth day, when we were one Imn- 
dred miles from home. My master stopped to-nii;ht 
(for he traveled witli me on his horse) at tlie house of 
an old friend of his ; and I heard my master^ in con- 
versation with this gentleman, (for such he certainly 
was) give mc a \cry good character, and tell hiui, 
that I was the most faithful and trusty negro that he 
liad ever owned. lie' also said that if he lived to see 
the expiration of the seven years for ^vlli(•ll lie had 
leased me, he intended to buy me. lie said much 
more of me ; and I thought I heard him tell his friend 
something about my mistress, but this was spoken in 
a luw tone of voice, and I cuuld nut distinctly under- 
stand it. "When I was going away in the morning 
with my team, this gentleman came out to the wagon 
and ordered one of his own slaves to help me to put 
the harness on my mules. At parting, he told me to 
stop at his house on my return and stay all night ; 
and said, I should always be welcome to the use of his 
kitchen, if it should ever be my lot to travel that way 
airain. 

I mention these trifles to show, that if there arc 
hard and cruel masters in the South, there are also 
others of a contrary character. The slave-holders arc 
neither more nor less than men, some of whom are 
good and very many are bad. My master and this 
gentleman were certainly of the number of the good, 



282 Fifty Tears in CJiains ; or, 



but the contrast between them and some others that 
I have seen, was, unhappily for many of the slaves, 
very great. I shall, hereafter, refer to this gentleman, 
at whose house I now w\as, and shall never name him 
without honor, nor think of him without gratitude. 

As I traveled through the country with my team, 
my chief employment, beyond my duty of a teamster, 
was to observe the condition of the slaves on the 
various plantations by which we passed on our journey, 
and to compare things in Georgia, as I now saw them, 
with similar things in Carolina, as I had heretofore 
Been them. 

There is as much sameness among the various cotton 
plantations in Georgia, as there is among the various 
farms in New York or New Jersey. He who has seen 
one cotton-field has seen all the other cotton-fields, 
bating the difference that naturally results from good 
and bad soils, or good and bad culture ; but the con- 
trast that prevails in the treatment of the slaves, on 
different plantations, is very remarkable. We travel- 
ed a road that was not well provided wdth public 
houses, and we frequently stopped for the night at the 
private dwellings of the planters, and I observed that 
my master was received as a visitor, and treated as a 
friend in the family, whilst I was always left at the 
road with my wagon, my master supplying me with 
money to buy food for myself and my mules. 



The Life of an American Slave. 283 

It was my practice, when we remained all niglit at 
these gentlemen's houses, to go to the kitchen in the 
evening, after I had fed my mules and eaten my sup- 
per, and pass some time in conversation with the black 
people I might chance to find there. One evening wo 
halted before sundown, and I unhitched my mules at 
the road, about two hundred yards from the house of 
a planter, to which my master went to claim hospi- 
tality for himself. 

After I had disposed of my team f )r the night, and 
taken my supper, I went /is usual to sec the people of 
color in the kitchen, belonging to this })lantation. Tho 
sun had just sot when I reached the kitchen, and soon 
afterwards, a black boy came in and told the woman, 
who was the only person in the kitchen when I came 
to it, that she must go down to the overseer's house. 
She immediately started, in obedience to this order, 
and not choosing to remain alone in a strange house, 
I conclnded to follow the woman, and sec the other 
people of this estate. When we reached the house of 
the overseer, the colored people were coming in from 
the field, and with them came the overseer, and another 
man, better dressed than overseers usually are. 

I stood at some distance from these gentlemen, not 
thinking it prudent to be too forward amongst stran- 
gers. The black people were all called together, and 
the overseer told them, that some one of them had 



284 Fifty Years in Clicdns ^ or, 

stolen a fat hog from the loen, carried it to the. woods, 
and there killed and dressed it ; that he had that day 
found the place where the hog had been slaughtered, 
and that if they did not confess, and tell who the per- 
petrators of this theft were, they would all be whipped 
in the severest manner. To this threat, no other reply 
was made than a universal assertion of the innocence 
of the accused. They were all then ordered to lie 
down upon the ground, and expose their backs, to 
which the overseer applied the thong of his long whip, 
by turns, until he was weary. It was fortunate for 
these people, that they were more than twenty in 
number, which prevented the overseer from inflicting 
many lashes on any one of them. 

"When the whole number had received, each in turn, 
a share of the lash, the overseer returned to the man, 
to whom he had first applied the whip, and told him 
he was ceortain that he knew who stole the hog ; and 
that if he did not tell who the thief was, he would 
whip him all night. He then again applied the whip 
to the back of this man, until the blood flowed copi- 
ously ; but the sufferer hid his face in his hands, and 
said not a word. The other gentleman then asked the 
overseer if he was confident this man had stolen the 
pig ; and, receiving an affirmative answer, he said he 
would make the fellow confess the truth, if he would 
follow his directions. He then asked the overseer if 



TJie Life of an American Slave. 285 



h. had ever tried cat-hauling, upon an obstinate negro ; 
ar. I was told that this punishment had been heard of, 
but never practised on this plantation. 

A boy was then ordered to ^ot up, run to the house, 
and bring a cat, which was soon produced. Tlie cat 
which was a large gray tom-cat, was then taken by 
the well-dressed gentleman, and placed upon the bare 
back of the prostrate black man, near the shoulder, 
and forcibly dragged by the tail down the back, and 
along the bare thighs of the suflcrer. The cat sunk 
his nails into the flesh, and tore off pieces of the skin 
with his teeth. The man roared with the pain r.f this 
punishment, and would have rolled along the ground, 
had lie not been held in his place by the force of four 
other slaves, each one of whom confined a hand or a 
foot. As soon as the cat was drawn from him, the 
man s<iid he would tell who stole the hog, and confess- 
ed that he and several others, three of whom were 
then holding him, had stolen the hog— killed, dressed, 
and eaten it. In return for this confession, the over- 
seer said he should have another touch of the cat, which 
was again drawn along his back, not as before, from 
the head downwards, but from below the hips to the 
head. The man was then permitted to rise, and each 
of those who had been named by him as a participator 
in stealing the hog, was compelled to Yvq down, 'and 
have the cat twice drawn along his back ; first down- 



286 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



wards, and then upwards. After the termination ot 
this punishment^ each of the sufferers was washed with 
salt water, by a black woman, and they were then all 
dismissed. This was the most excruciating punish- 
ment that I ever saw inflicted on black people, and, in 
my opinion, it is very dangerous ; for the claws of the 
cat are poisonous, and wounds made by them are very 
subject to inflammation. 

During all this time, I had remained at the distance 
of fifty yards from the place of punishment^ fearing 
either to advance or retreat, lest I too might excite 
the indignation of these sanguinary judges. After 
the business was over, and my feelings became a little 
more composed, I thought the voice of the gentleman 
in good clothes, was familiar to me ; but I could not 
recollect who he was, nor where I had heard his voice, 
until the gentlemen at length left this place, and went 
towards the great house, and as they passed me, I re- 
cognized in the companion of the overseer, my old 
master, the negro trader, who had bought me in Mary- 
land, and brought me to Carolina. 

I afterwards learned from my master that this man 
had formerly been engaged in the African slave-trade, 
which he had given up some years before, for the safei 
and less arduous business of buvincr neo:roes in the 
North, and bringing them to the South, as articles of 
merchandise, in which he had acquired a very respect- 



The Life of on American Slave. 2S7 



able fortune— had lately married in a wealthy family, 
in this part of the countr}', and was a great planter. 

Two days after this, we reached Savannah, wliere 
my master sold his cotton, and purchased a wagon 
load of sugar, molasses, coffee, shoes, dr>' goods, and 
such articles as wo stood in need of at home ; and on 
the next day after I entered the city, I again left it, 
and directed my course up the country. In Savannah 
I saw many black mm wlio were slaves, and who yet 
acted as freemen so far that they went out to work, 
where and with whom they pleaded, received their cwn 
wages, and provided their own subsistence ; but were 
obliged to pay a certain sum at the end of each week 
to their masters. One of these men told me that ho 
paid six dollars on ever>' Saturday evening to his mas- 
ter ; and yet he was comfortably dressed, and appear- 
ed to live well. Savannah was a very busy place, and 
I saw vast quantities of cotton piled up on the wharves, 
but the appearance of the town itself was not much in 
favor of the people who lived in it. 

Ou my way home I traveled for several days, In- a 
road different from that which we had pursued in C(.ni- 
ing down ; and at the distance of fifty or sixty miles 
from Savannah, I passed by the largest plantation that 
I had ever seen. I think I saw at least a tliousand 
acres of cotton in one field, which was all as level as a 
bowling-green. There were, as I was told, three hun- 



288 Fifty Years in Chains ; or^ 

dred and fifty hands at work in this field, picking the 
last of the cotton from the burs ; and these were the 
most miserable looking slaves that I had seen in all 
my travels. 

It was now the dej^th of winter, and although the 
weather was not cold, yet it was the winter of this cli- 
mate ; and a man who lives on the Savannah river a 
few years, will find himself almost as much oppressed 
with cold, in winter there, as he would be in the same 
season of the year on the banks of the Potomac^ if he 
had always resided there. 

These people were, as far as I could see, totally with- 
out shoes, and there was no such garment as a hat of 
any kind amongst them. Each person had a coarse 
blanket, which had holes cut for the arms to pass 
through, and the top was drawn up round tho neck, 
so as to form a sort of loose frock, tied before with 
strings. The arms, when the people were at work, 
were naked, and some of them had very little clothing 
of any kind besides this blanket frock. The appear- 
ance of these people afforded the most conclusive evi- 
dence that they were not eaters of pork, and that lent 
lasted with them throughout the year. 

I again staid all night, as I went home, with the 
gentleman whom I have before noticed as the friend of 
my master, who had left me soon after we quitted Sav- 
annah, and I saw him no more until I reached home. 



The Life of an American Slave. 



ISO 



Soon after my return from Savannah, an affair of a 
very melancholy character took place in the neighbor- 
hood of my master's plantation. About two°miL>8 
from our residence lived a gentleman who was a bacli- 
elor, and who had for his housekeeper a mulatto woman. 
The master was a young man, not more than twenty- 
five years old, an.l the housekeeper must have been at 
lea,st forty. She had cliildren grown up, one of whom 
had l)een sold by her master, the father of the bachelor, 
since I lived here, and carried away to the West. This 
woman had acquireil a most Tmaccountable influence 
"ver her young master, who lived with her as his wife, 
nd gave her the entire command of his house, and of 
very thing about it. Before he came to live where he 
H.)w did, and whilst he still nsided witli liis father, to 
whom the woman then kdunged, the old gentleman 
I-'-rceiving the attachment of his son to this female, 
I'-id sold her to a trader, who was on his way to the 
:\Iississii)pi river in the absence of the young man ; 
but when the latter returned home, and learned what 
had been done, he immediately set off in pursuit of 
tl><' purcliascr, overtook him somewhere in the Indian 
nitory, and bought the woman of him, at an advan- 
'vd price. He then brouglit her back, and put her, as 
his hou.sekeeper, on the place where he now lived ; 
Icit his fatli.r .'uM came to reside in person with the 



woman. 



290 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



On a plantation adjoinin:^ that of the gentleman 
bachelor, lived a planter, who owned a young mulatto 
man, named Frank, not more than twenty-four or five 
years old, a very smart as well as handsome fellow. — 
Frank had become as much enamored of this woman, 
w^ho was old enough to have been his mother, as her 
master, the bachelor was ; and she returned Frank's 
attachment, to the prejudice of her owner. Frank was 
in the practice of visiting his mistress at night, a cir- 
cumstance of which her master was suspicious ; and he 
forbade Frank from coming to the house. This only 
heiditcned the flame that was burnini; in the bosoms 
of the lovers ; and they resolved, after many and long 
deliberations, to destroy the master. She projected 
the plot, and furnished the means for the murder, by 
taking her master's gun from the place w^here he usu- 
ally kept it, and giving it to Frank, who came to the 
house in the evening, when the gentleman was taking 
his supper alone. 

Lucy always w^aited upon her master at his meals, 
and knowing his usual j)lace of sitting, had made a 
hole between two of the logs of the house, towards 
which she knew his back would be at supper. At a 
given pignal, Frank came quietly up the house, levelled 
the gun through the hole j)repared for him, and dis- 
charf>"ed a load of buck-shot between the shoulders of 
the unsuspecting master,, who sprang from his seat and 



Ihe Lijr ij (,/i ^iDirricrui Slave. 201 



ffll dead beside the table. Tliis niunlor was not known 
in the neighborhood nntil tlie next nioniinr^, \\]wn the 
woman herself went to a house on an a.ljoinin::: lilan- 
tation and told it. 

The murdcrod gfntlrnian had several otiier .slaves, 
none of whom were at home at the time of his death, 
except one man ; and lie was so terrified that he was 
afraid to run and alarm the neighborhood. 1 kin'w 
this man will, and l>clicve he was afraid of the wonian 
and her accomplice. I never had any doubt of his in- 
nocence, though he mffvTvd a i.uni.shment, upon no 
other evidence than mere suspicion, far more terrible 
ilian any ordinary fonn of death. 

As soon as the murder was known to the neighbor- 
ing gentlemen, they hastened to vi.sit the d.-ad'body, 
and were no less expeditious in instituting inquiries 
ifter those who had done the bloody deed. My mas- 
r was amongst the first who arrived at the house of 
ihe deceased ; and in a short time, half the slaves of 
the neighboring plantations were arrested, and brought 
to the late dwelling of the dead man. For my own 
part, iVuin the moment I heard of the murder, I had 
no doubt of its author. 

Silence is a great virtue when it is dangerous to 
speak ; and I had long since determined never to 
advance opinions, uncalled for, in controversies between 
the wliite people and the slaves. Many witnesses were 



292 Fifty Years :n Chains ; or, 

examined by a justice of the peace, before the coroner 
arrived, but after the coming of the latter, a jury was 
called ; and more than half a day was spent in asking 
questions of various black peoj^le, without the disclo- 
sure of any circumstance, which tended to fix the guilt 
of the murder upon any one. My master, who was pre- 
sent all this time, at last desired them to examine me, 
if it was thought that my testimony could be of any 
service in the matter, as he wished me to go home to 
attend to my work. I was sworn on the Testament 
to tell the whole truth ; and stated at the commence- 
ment of my testimony, that I believed Frank and Lucy 
to be the murderers, and proceeded to assign the rea- 
sons upon which my opinion was founded. Frank had 
not been present at this examination, and Lucy, who 
had been sworn, had said she knew nothing of the 
matter ; that at the time her master was shot she had 
gone into the kitchen for some milk for his supper, and 
that on hearing the gun, she had come into the room 
at the moment he fell to the floor aud expired ; but 
when she opened the door and looked out, she could 
neither hear nor see any one. 

When Frank was brought in and made to touch 
^vhe dead body, which he was compelled to do, because 
some said that if he was the murderer, the corpse 
would bleed at his touch, he trembled so much tliat I 
thouo^ht he would fiiU but no blood issued frcm the 



The Life of an American Slave. 293 

wuund of the dead man. This compulsory touching 
of the dead had, however, in this instance, a much more 
l)Owerful cfFect, in the conviction of the criminal, than 
the flowing of any quantity of blood could have had ; 
for as soon as Frank had withdrawn his hand from the 
touch of the dead, the coroner asked him, in a j)eremp- 
tory tone, as if conscious of the fact, why he had done 
this. Frank was so confounded with fear, and over- 
whelmed hy this interrogatory, that he lost all self- 
possession, and cried out in a voice of despair, that 
Lucy had made him do it. 

Lucy, who had kft the I'oom wlien Frank was 
brought in, was now recalled, and confronted with 
lier partner in guilt, but nothing could w^ing a word 
of confession from her. She i^ersisted, that if Frank 
had murdered her master, he had done it of his own 
accord, and without her knowledge or advice. Some 
one now, for the first time, thought of making search 
for the gun of the dead man, which was not found in 
the place where he usually had kept it. Frank said 
he had committed the crime with this gun, w^hich had 
been placed in his hands by Lucy. Frank, Lucy and 
Billy, a black man, against whom there w^as no evi- 
dence, nor cause of suspicion, except that he was in 
the kitchen at the time of the murder, were commit- 
ted to prison in a new log-house on an adjoining plan- 
tation, closely confined '.n irons, and kept there a lit- 



294 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

tie raoi'e than two weeks, when they were all tried be- 
fore some gentlemen of the neighborhood, who held a 
court for that purpose. Lucy and Frank were con- 
demned to be hung, but Billy was found not guilty ; 
although he was not released, but kept in confinement 
until the execution of his companions, which took 
place ten days after the trial. 

On the morning of the execution, my master told 
me, and all the rest of the people, that we must go to 
the hanging, as it was termed by him as well as others. 
The i^lace of punishment was only two miles from my 
master's residence, and I was there in time to get a 
good stand, near the gallows' tree, by which I was 
enabled to see all the proceedings connected with this 
solemn affair. It was estimated by my master, that 
there were at least fifteen thousand jieople present at 
this scene, more than half of whom were blacks ; all 
the masters, for a great distance round the country, 
having permitted, or compelled their people to come 
to this hanging. 

Billy was brouglit to the gallows with Lucy and 
Frank, but was permitted to walk beside the cart in 
which they rode. Under the gallows, after the rope 
was around her neck, Lucy confessed that the murder 
had been designed by her in the first place, and that 
Frank had only perpetrated it at her instance. She 
said she had at first intended to apply to Billy to 



The Life jf an American Slave. 205 

assist licr in tlio undortakinn-, Imt liad after^vanl^^ 
communicated Irt designs to Frank, \vho ofTercd to 
shoot her master, if she would supply liim witli a gun, 
and let no other person be in the secret. 

A long sermon was preached by a white man under 
the gallows, which was only the limb of a tree, and 
afterwards an exhortation was delivered by a black 
man. The two convicts were hung together, and after 
they were quite dead, a consultation was held among 
the gentlemen as to the future disposition of Billy, 
who, having been in the house when his master was 
murdered, and not having given immediate informa- 
tion of the fact, was held to be guilty of concealing 
the death, and was accordingly sentenced to receivo 
five hundred lashes. I was in the branches of a tree 
close by the i)lace where the court was held, and dis- 
tinctly heard its proceedings and judgment. Some 
wont to the woods to cut hickories, whilst others strip- 
ped Billy and tied him to a tree. More than twenty 
long switches, some of them six or seven feet in 
length, had been procured, and two men applied the 
rods at the same time, one standing on each side of 
the culprit, one of them using his left hand. 

I had often seen black men whipped, and had al- 
ways, when the lash was applied with great severity, 
heard the suiferer cry out and beg for mercy, but in 
this case, the pain inflicted by the double blows of the 



296 Fifty Tears in Chains ; or, 

hickory was so intense, that Billy never uttered so 
much as a groan ; and I do not believe he breathed 
for the space of two minutes after he received the first 
strokes. He shrank his body close to the trunk of the 
tree, around which his arms and Icirs were lashed, 
drew his shoulders up to his head like a dying man, 
and trembled, or rather shivered, in all his members. 
The blood flowed from the commencement, and in a 
few minutes lay in small puddles at the root of the 
tree. I saw flakes of flesh as long as my finger fall 
out of the gashes in his back ; and I believe he was 
insensible durino- all the time that he was receiving 
the last two hundred lashes. When the whole five 
hundred lashes had been counted by the person ap- 
pointed to perform this duty, the half dead body was 
unbound and laid in the shade of the tree upon which I 
sat. The gentlemen who had done the whijiping, 
eight or ten in number, being joined by their friends, 
then came under the tree and drank punch until their 
dinner was made ready, under a booth of green boughs 
at a short distance. 

After dinner, Billy, who had been groaning on the 
ground where he was laid, was taken up, placed in 
the cart in which Lncy and Frank had been brought 
to the gallows, and conveyed to the dwelling of his 
late master, where he was confined to the house and 
his bed more than three months, and was never worth 
much afterwards while I remained in Geor^^ia. 



The Life of an American Slave. 297 



Lucy and Frank, after tlioy had been half an hour 
upon the gallows, were cut dovm, and suffered to drop 
into a deep hole that had been dug under them whilst 
they were suspended. As they fell, so the earth was 
thrown upon them, and the grave closed over them 
for ever. 

Th.T were hung on Tlnirsday, and the vast assem- 
blage of people that had convened to witness their 
death did not leave the place altogether until the next 
Monday morning. Wagons, carts, and carriages had 
been l.rought upon the ground ; booths and tents 
erected f)r the convenience and accommodation of the 
multitude ; and the terrible spectacles that I have 
just described were succeeded by music, dancing, trad- 
ing in horses, gambling, drinking, fighting, and every 
other species of amusement and excess to which the 
southern people are addicted. 

I had to work in the day-time, but went every night 
to witness this funeral carnival,— the numbers that 
joined in which appeared, to increase, ratlier than di- 
minish, during the Friday and Saturday that followed 
the execution. It was not until Sunday afternoon that 
the crowd began sensibly to diminish ; and on Monday 
morning, after breakfast time, the last wagons left the 
ground, now trampled into dust as dry and as light as 
ashes, and the grave of the murderers was left To the 
solitude of the woods. 

13* 



298 Fifty Years in Chains ; oTj 



Certainly those who were hanged well deserved their 
punishment ; but it was a very arbitrary exercise of 
power to whip a man until he was insensible, because 
he did not prevent a murder which was committed 
without his knowledge ; and I could not understand 
the right of punishing him, because he was so weak or 
timorous as to refrain from the disclosure of the crime 
the moment it came to his knowledge. 

It is necessary for the southern people to be vigi- 
lant in guarding the moral condition of their slaves, 
and even to punish the intention to commit crimes, 
when that intention can be clearly proved ; for such 
is the natural relation of master and slave, in by far 
the greater number of cases, that no cordiality of feel- 
in"- can ever exist between them : and the sentiments 
that bind together the different members of society in 
a state of freedom and social en[uality, being absent, 
the master must resort to principles of physical re- 
straint, and rules of mental coercion, unknown in an- 
other and a different condition of the social compact. 

It is a mistake to suppose that the southern planters 
could ever retain their property, or live amongst their 
slaves, if those slaves were not kept in terror of the 
punishment that would follow acts of violence and 
disorder. There is no difference between the feelings 
of the different races of men, so far as their personal 
ri^T-hts are concerned. The black man is as anxious to 



The Lift of an American Slave. 299 



possess and to enjoy liberty as the white one would bo, 
were lie depriveil of this inestimable blessini;. It is 
not for me to say that the one is as well qualified for 
the enjo}'ment of liberty as the other. Low ignorance, 
moral degradation of character, and mental depravity, 
are inseparable companions ; and in the breast of an 
ignorant man, the passions of envy and revenge hold 
unbridled dominion. 

It was in the month of April that I witnessed the 
painful siK^ctacle of two fellow-creatures being launch- 
ed into the abyss of eternity, and a third, being tor- 
tured beyond the sufTerings of mere death, not for his 
crimes, but as a terror to others ; and this, not to deter 
others from the commission of crimes, but to stimulate 
them to a more active and devoted performance of their 
duties to their owners. My spirits had not recovered 
from the depression produced by that scene, in which 
my feelings had been awakened in the cause of others, 
when I was called to a nearer and more immediate 
appadiension of sufferings, which, I now too clearly 
saw, were in ])rei>anition for myself 

My master's health became worse continually, and 
I expected he would not survive this summer. In 
this, however, I was disappointed ; but he was so ill 
that he was seldom able to come to the field, and paid 
but little attention to his plantation, or the culture of 
his crops. Hb left the care of the cotton field to me 



300 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

after the month of June, and was not again out on the 
jolantation before the following October ; when he one 
(lay came out on a little Indian pony that he had used as 
his hackney, before he w\as so far reduced as to decline 
the practice of riding. I suffered very much this sum- 
mer for want of good and substantial provisions, my 
master being no longer able to sujDply me, with his 
usual liberality, from his own meat house. I was 
obliged to lay out nearly all my other earnings, in the 
course of the summer, for bacon, to enable me to bear 
the hardship and toil to which I was exposed. My 
master often sent for me to come to the house, and 
talked to me in a very kind manner ; and I believe 
that no hired overseer could have carried on the busi- 
ness more industriously than I did, until the crop was 
secured the next winter. 

Soon after my master was in the field, in October, 
he sent for me to come to him one day, and gave me, 
on parting, a pretty good great coat of strong drab 
cloth, almost new, which he said would be o"f service 
to me in the coming winter. He also gave me at 
the same time a pair of boots which he had worn half 
out, but the legs of which were quite good. This 
great coat and these boots were afterwards of great 
service to me. 

As the winter came on my master grew worse, and 
thoudi he still continued to walk about the house in 



The Life of an American Slave. 301 

good weather, it was manifest that he was approaching 
the closQ of his earthly existence. I worked very liard 
tliis winter. The crop of cotton was heavy, and wo 
did not get it all out of the field until some time after 
Christmas, which compelled me to work hard iiiysilf, 
and cause my fellow-slaves to work liani too, in clear- 
ing the land that my master was hound to clear every 
year on this place. He desired me to get as much of 
the land cleared in time for cotton as I could, and to 
plant the rest with com when cleared off. 

As I wan now entrusted with the entire superinten- 
dvuca of the plantation by my master, who never left 
his house, it became uecessiiry for me to assume the 
authority of an overseer of my fellow-slaves, and I not 
unfrequently found it pro})er to puiiisli thcia witli 
stripes to compel them to perform their work. At 
first I felt much rcpu^_'nance against the use of the 
hickory, the only instmment with which I punished 
offenders, but the longer I was accustomed to this 
practice, the more fiimiliar and less offensive it became 
to me ; and I believe that a few years of perseverance 
and experience would have made me as inveterate a 
negro-driver as any in Georgia, though I feel conscious 
that I never should have become so hardened as to 
strip a person for the purpose of whipping, nor should 
I ever have consented to compel people to work with- 



302 Fifty Years in Chains] or^ 



out a sufficiency of good food, if I had it in my power 
to supply them with enough of this first of comforts. 

In the month of February, my master became so 
weak, and his cough was so distressing, that he took 
to his bed, from which he never again departed, save 
only once, before the time when he was removed to 
be wrapped in his winding-sheet. In the month of 
March, two of the brothers of my mistress came to see 
her, and remained with her until after the death of my 
master. 

When they had been with their sister about three 
weeks, they came to the kitchen one day when I had 
come in for my dinner, and told me that they were 
going to whip me. I asked them what thoy were go- 
ing to whip me for ? to which they replied, that they 
thought a good whipping would be good for me, and 
that at any rate, I must prepare to take it. My mis- 
tress now joined us, and after swearing at me in the 
most furious manner, for a space of several minutes, 
and bestowing upon me a multitude of the coarsest 
epithets, told me that she had long owed me a whip- 
ping, and that I should now get it. 

She then ordered me to take off my shirt, (the only 
garment I had on, except a pair of old tow linen trow- 
sers,) and the two brothers backed the command of 
their sister, the one by presenting a pistol at my breast, 
and the other by drawing a large club over his head 



TJtc Life of an Amcricai Slave. 303 

in tlic attitude of striking me. Resistance was vain, 
and I was forced to yield. My shirt being off, I was 
tied by tlie hands with a stout bed-cord, and being led 
to a tree, called the Pride of China, that grew in the 
yard, my hands wrre drawn by the rope, being passed 
over a liml), until my feet no longer touched the ground. 
Being thus suspended in the air by the rope, and my 
whole weight hanging on my wrists, I was unable to 
move any part of my person, except my feet and legs. 
I had never been whipped since I was a boy, and felt 
llie injustice of the j)rcsent proceeding with the ut- 
most keenness ; but neither justice nor my feelings 
liad any influence upon the hearts of my mistress and 
her brothers, two men as cruel in temjjcr and as 
savage in manners as herself 

The first strokes of the hickor}^ produced a sensation 
that I can only liken to streams of scalding water, 
running along my back ; but after a hundred or hun- 
dred and fifty lashes had been showered upon me, the 
pain became less acute and piercing, but was succeed- 
ed by a dead and painful aching, which seemed to 
extend to my veiy backbone. 

As I hung by the rope, the moving of my legs some- 
times caused me to tiun round, and soon after they 
began to beat me I saw the pale and death-like figure 
of my master standing at the door, when my face was 
turned toward the house, and heard him, in a faint 



304 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



voicCj scarcely louder than a strong breathing, com- 
manding his brothers-in-law to let me go. These 
commands were disregarded, unti . I had received full 
three hundred lashes ; and doubtlessly more would 
have been inflicted upon me, had not my master, with 
an effort beyond his strength, by the aid of a stick on 
which he supported himself, made his way to me, and 
placing his skeleton form beside me as I hung, told 
his brothers-in-law that if they struck another stroke 
he would send for a lawyer and have them both prose- 
cuted at law. This interposition stopped the progress 
of my punishment, and after cutting me down, they 
carried my master again into the house. I was yet 
able to walk, and went into the kitchen, whither my 
mistress followed, and compelled me to submit to be 
washed in brine by a black woman, who acted as her 
cook. I was then permitted to put my shirt on, and 
to go to my bed. 

This was Saturday, and on the next day, when I 
awoke late in the morning, I found myself unable to 
turn over or to rise. I felt too indignant at the bar- 
barity TN ith which I had been treated to call for help 
from any one, and lay in my bed made of corn husks 
until after twelve o'clock, when my mistress came to 
me and asked me how I was. A slave must not 
manifest feelings of resentment, and I answered with 
humility, that I was vny sore and unable to get up. 



The Life of an American Slave. 203 



She tlieii callrd a man iiiul a woman, who came and 
raised me up ; but I now found that my sliirt was as 
fast to my Ijack as if it liad grown there. The hhx.d 
and bruised flesh having beeome incorporated wiih tlie 
fiubstancc of tlie linen, it formed only the outer eoat 
of the great scab that covered my back. 

After I was down stairs, my mistress had me waslud 
in warm water, and warm grease was nildxd uvcr mv 
back and sides, until the shirt was saturated with oil, 
and becoming soft, was at length separated fmm my 
back. My mistress then had my back >vashed and 
greased, and put uj)on mc one of my master's o]<l 
linen shirts. She had become alanned, and was IVar- 
ful either that I should die, or would nut be able 
to work again for a long time. As it was, she lost a 
month of my labor at this time, and in the end, she 
lost myself, in consequence of this whipping. 

As soon as I was able to walk, my master sent for 
me to come to his bed-side, and told me that he was 
ver}' sorry for what had happened ; that it was not his 
fault, and tliat if he had been well I should never 
have been touched. Tears came in his eyes as he 
talked to mc, and said that as he could itot live long, 
he hoped I would continue faithful to him whilst he 
did live. This I promised to do, for I really loved my 
master ; but I had already determined, that as soon 
as he was in his grave, I would attempt to escape 



;06 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



from Georgia and the cotton country, if my life should 
he the forfeiture of the attempt. 

As soon as I had recovered of my wounds, I again 
went to work, not in my former situation of superin- 
tendent of my master's plantation, for this place was 
now occupied by one of the brothers of my mistress, 
but in the woods, where my mistress had determined 
to clear a new field. After this time, I did nothing 
but grub and clear land, while I remained in Georgia, 
but I was always making preparations for my depar- 
ture from that country. 

My master was an officer of mihtia, and had a sword 
which he wore on parade days, and at other times he 
hun«- it up in the room where he slept. I conceived 
an idea that this sword would be of service to me in 
the long journey that I intended to undertake. One 
evening, when I had gone in to see my master, and 
had remained standing at his bed-side some time, he 
closed his eyes as if going to sleep, and it being twi- 
light, I slipped ihe sword from the place where it 
hung, and dropped it out of the window. I knew my 
master could never need this weapon again, but yet I 
felt some compunction of conscience at the thought 
of robbing so good a man. When I left the room, I 
took up the sword, and afterwards secreted it in a 
hollow tree in the woods, near the place at which I 
worked daily. 



Tlie Life of on Amcricon Slave, 307 



CHAPTEE XY. 

^Iy master died in tlio month of May, and I follow- 
ed him to his grave with a heavy heart, for I felt that 
I had lost the only friend I liad in the world, who 
possessed at once the power and tlio inclination to 
protect me against the tyranny and oj^pression to 
which slaves on a cotton j^lantation are subject. 

Had he lived, I should have remained with him and 
never have left him, for he had promised to purchase 
the residue of my time of my owners in Carolina ; hut 
when he was gone, I felt the i)arting of the last tie 
that hound me to the place where I then was, and my 
heart yearaed for my wife and children, from whom I 
had now been separated more than four years. 

I held my life in small estimation, if it was to he 
worn out under the dominion of my mistress and her 
brothers, though since the death of my master she had 
greatly meliorated my condition by giving me frequent 
allowances of meat and other necessaries. I believe 
she entertained some vague apprehensions that T might 



308 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



run away^ and betake myself to tlie woods for a living, 
but I do not think slie ever suspected that I would 
hazard the untried undertaking of attempting to make 
my way back to Maryland. My purpose was fixed, 
and now nothing could shake it. I only waited for a 
proper season of the year to commence my toilsome 
and dangerous journey. As I must of necessity pro- 
cure my own subsistence on my march, it behoved me 
to pay regard to the time at which I took it u]). 

I furnished myself with a fire-box, as it is called, 
that is, a tin case containing flints, steel and tinder — 
this I considered indisj)ensable. I took the great coat 
that my master had given me, and with a coarse 
needle and thread quilted a scabbard of old cloth in 
one side of it, in which I could j^ut my sword and 
carry it with safety. I also jn'ocured a small bag of 
linen that held more than a peck. This bag I filled 
with the meal of parched corn, grinding the corn after 
it was parched in the woods where I worked at the 
mill at night. These operations, except the grinding 
of the corn, I carried on in a small' conical cabin that 
I had built in the woods. The boots that my master 
gave me, I had repaired by a Spaniard who lived in 
the neighborhood, and followed the business of a 
cobbler. 

Before the first of August I had all my preparations 
completed, and had matured them with so much 



The Life of 2n American Slave. 309 

secrecy, that no one in tlie country, white or black, 
suspected me of entertaining any extraordinary design. 
I only waited for the corn to be ripe, and fit to be 
roasted, which time I had fixed as the period of my 
departure. I watched the progress of the corn daily, and 
on the eighth of August I perceived, on examining 
my mistress' field, that nearly half of the cars were so 
far grown, that by roasting them, a man could easily 
subsist himself ; and as I knew that this corn had 
been planted later than the most of the corn in the 
country, I resolved to take leave of the plantation and 
its tenants, for ever, on the next day. 

I had a faithful dog, called Trueman, and this poor 
animal had been my constant companion for more than 
four years, without ever showing cowardice or infidelity, 
but once, and that was when the panther followed us 
from the woods. I was accordingly anxious to bring 
my dog with me ; but as I knew the success of my 
undertaking depended on secrecy and silence, I thought 
it safest to abandon my last friend, and engage in my 
perilous enterprise alone. On the morning of the iiinth 
I went to work as usual, carrying my dinner with me, 
and worked diligently at grubbing until about one 
o'clock in the day. I now sat down and took my last 
dinner as the slave of my mistress, dividing the con- 
tents of my basket with my dog. After I had finished 
I tied my dog with a rope to a small tree ; I set my 



310 ^ifty Years in Chains ; or, 

gun against it, for I thought I should be better with- 
out the gun than with it ; tied my knapsack with my 
bag of meal on my shoulders, and then turned to take 
a last flirewell of my poor dog, that stood by the tree 
to which he was bound, looking wistfully at me. When 
I approa,ched him, he licked my hands, and then rising 
on his hind feet and j^lacing his fore j)aws on my breast, 
he uttered a long howl, which thrilled through my 
heart, as if he had said, " My master, do not leave me 
behind you." 

I now took to the forest, keeping, as nearly as I 
could, a North course all the afternoon. Niirht over- 
took me before I reached any watercourse, or any other 
object worthy of being noticed ; and I lay down and 
slept soundl}^, without kindling a fire or eating any 
thing. I was awake before day, and as soon as there 
was liglit enough to enable me to see my way, I re- 
sumed my journey and walked on, until about eight 
o'clock, when I came to a river, which I knew must 
be the Appalachie. I sat down on the bank of the 
river, opened my bag of meal, and made my breakfast 
of a part of its contents. I used my meal very spar- 
ingly, it being the most valuable treasure that I now 
possessed ; though I had in my pocket three Spanish 
dollars ; but in my situation, this money could not 
avail me any thing, as I was resolved not to show my- 
self to any person, either white or l^lack After taking 



The Life of an American Slave. 311 

my breakfast, I prej^ared to cross the river, which was 
here about a hundred yards wide, with a shiggish and 
deep current. The morning was sultry, and the thickets 
along the margin of the river teemed with insects and 
reptiles. By sounding the river with a pole, I found 
the stream too deep to be waded, and I therefore pre- 
pared to swim it. For this purpose I stripped myself, 
and bound my clothes on the top of my knapsack, and 
my bag of meal on tlie top of my clotlies ; then draw- 
ing my knapsack close up to my head, I threw myself 
into the river. In my youtli I had learned to swim in 
the Patuxent, and have seldom met with any person 
wlio was more at ease in deep water than myself. I 
kept a straight line from the place of my entrance into 
the Appalachie, to the opposite side, and when I had 
reached it, stepped on the margin of the land, and 
turned round to view the place from which I had set 
out on my arjuatic passage ; but my eye was arrested 
by an object nearer to me than the opposite shore. 
Within twenty feet of me, in the very line that I had 
pursued in crossing the river, a large alligator was 
moving in full pursuit of me, with his nose just above 
the surface, in the position that creature takes when 
he gives chase to his intended prey in'the water. The 
alligator can swim more than twice as fast as a 
man, for he can overtake young ducks on the water ; 
and had I been ten seconds 'onger in the river, I should 



312 F^fiy Years in Chains ; or, 

Vave been dragged to the bottom, and never again been 
heard of. 

Seeing that I had gained the shore, m}^ ^oursuei 
turned, made two or three circles in the water close by 
me, and then disappeared. 

I received this admonition as a warning of the dan- 
gers that I must encounter in my journey to the North. 
After adjusting my clothes, I again took to the woods, 
and bore a little to the east of north ; it now being 
my determination to turn down the country, so as to 
gain the line of the roads by which I had come to the 
South. I traveled all day in the woods ; but a sliort 
time before sundown, came within view of an opening 
in the forest, which I took to be cleared fields, but 
upon a closer examination, finding no fences or other 
enclosures around it, I advanced into it and found it to 
be an open savannah, with a small stream of water 
creeping slowly through it. At the lower side of the 
open space were the remains of an old beaver dam, 
the central part of which had been broken away by the 
current of the stream at the time of some flood. Around 
the margin of this former pond, I observed several de- 
cayed beaver lodges, and numerous stumps of small 
trees, that had been cut down for the food or fortifica- 
tions of this industrious little nation, wdiich had fled 
at the approach of the white man, and all its people 
were now, like me, seeking refuge in the deepest soli- 



The Life of an American Slave. 



313 



tudes of the forest, from tlie glance cf every human 
eye. As It was gro^^-ing late, and I believed I must 
now be near the settlements, I determined to encamp 
for the night, beside this old beaver dam. I ac^ain 
took my supper from my bag of meal, and made^my 
bed for the night amongst the canes that grew in the 
place. This night I slept but little ; for it seemed as 
If all the owls in the country had assembled in my 
neighborhood to porforn^ . grand musical concert - 
Their Looting and .chattering commenced soon after 
dark, and continued until the dawn of day. In all 
parts of the southerfl oountiy, the owls are very numer- 
ous, especially along /the margins of streams, and in 
'.he low grounds witlj which the waters are universally 
bordered ; but since I had been in the country, al- 
though I had passed many nights in the woods at all 
seasons of the year, I had never before heard so clam- 
orous and deafening a chorus of nocturnal music - 
With the coming of the morning I arose from my 
couch, and proceeded warily along the woods, keepin-^ 
a contmual lookout for plantations, and listenin-v aU 
tentively to every noise that I heard in the tree's or 
amongst the canebrakes. When the sun had been'up 
two or three hours, I saw an appearance of blue sky 
a' a distance through the trees, which proved that the 
forest had been removed from a spot somewhere before 
me, and at no great distance from mo ; and, as I can- 



314 Fifty Years in CJiains ; or, 

tioiisly advanced, I heard the voices of people in loud 
conversation. Sitting down amongst the palmetto 
plants, that grew around me in great numbers, I soon 
perceived that the jDeople whose conversation I heard, 
were coming nearer to me. I now heard the sound of 
horses' feet, and immediately afterwards saw two men 
on horseback, with rifles on their shoulders, riding 
through the woods, and moving on a line that led them 
past me, at a distance of about fifty or sixty yards. — 
Perceiving that these men were equipped as hunters, 
I remained almost breathless for the purjDose of hear- 
ing their conversation. When they came so near that 
I could distinguish their w^ords, they were talking of 
the best place to take a stand for the purpose of seeing 
the deer ; from which I inferred that they had sent 
men to some other j)oint, for the purpose of rousing 
the deer with dogs. After they had passed that point 
of their way that was nearest to me, and were begin- 
ning to recede from me, one of them asked the other 
if he had heard that a negro had run away the day 
before yesterday, in Morgan county ; to which his 
companion answered in the negative. The first then 
said he had seen an advertisement at the store, which 
offered a hundred dollars reward for the runaway, 
whose name was Charles. 

The conversation of these horsemen was now inter- 
rupted by the cry of hounds, at a distance in the woods, 



The Life of an Amcrinin Slave. 315 



and lieigliteniijg the sjieed of their horses, they were 
soon out of my sight and hearing. 

Information of the state of the count ly through 
wliioh I Avas traveling, was of the liighest value to me ; 
and nothing could more nearly interest me than a 
knowledge of the fact, that my flight was known to 
the white people, who resided round about and before 
me. It was now necessary for me to become doubly 
vigilant, and to concert with myself measures of the 
highest moment. 

The first resolutiun that I took was, that I would 
travel no more in the day-time. This was the season 
of hunting deer, and knowing that the hunters were 
under the necessity of being as silent as possible in 
the woods, I saw at a glance that they would be at 
least as likely to discover me in the forest, before I 
could see them, as I should be to see them, before I 
myself could be seen. 

I was now very hungry, but exceedingly loath to 
make any further breaches on my bag of meal, except 
in extreme necessity. Feeling confident that there 
was a plantation within a few rods of me, I was anxi- 
ous to have a view of it, in hope that I might find a 
corn-field upon it, from which I could obtain a supjoly 
of roasting ears. Fearful to stand upright, I crept 
along through the low ground, where I then was, at 
times raising myself Id my knees, for the purpose of 



Fifty Years in Jhains ; or 



obtainlno: a better view of thin2;s about me. In this 
way I advanced until I came in view of a high fence, 
and beyond this saw cotton, tall and flourishing, but 
no sign of corn. I crept up close to the fence, where 
I found the .trunk of a large tree, that had been felled 
in clearing the field. Standing uj^on this, and look- 
ing over the plantation, I saw the tassels of corn, at 
the distance of half a mile, irrowino' in a field which 
was bordered on one side by the wood, in which I 
stood. 

It was now nine or ten o'clock in the morning, and 
as I had slept but little the night before, I crept into 
the bushes, great numbers of which grew in and about 
the toj) of tlie fallen tree, and, hungry as I was, fell 
asleep. When I awoke, it appeared to me from the 
position of .the sun, which I had carefully noted be- 
fore I lay down, to be about one or two o'clock. As 
this was the time of the day when the heat is most 
oppressive, and when every one was most likely to be 
absent from the forest, I again moved, and taking a 
circuitous route at some distance from the fields, 
reached the fence opposite the corn-field, without 
having met anything to alarm me. Having cautiously 
examined everything around me, as w^ell by the eye as 
by the ear, and finding all quiet, I ventured to cross 
the fence and pluck from the standing stalks about a 
dozen irood ears of corn, with which I stole back tc 



The Life of an American Slave. 317 



tlie thicket in safety. This corn was of no use to me 
without fire to roast it ; and it was equally dangerous 
to kindle fire by night as by day, the light at one time 
and the smoke at another, might betray me to those 
who I knew were ever ready to pursue and arrest me. 
'' Hunger eats through stone walls/' says the proverb, 
and an empty stomach is a petitioner, whose solicita- 
tions cannot be refused, if there is anything to satisfy 
them with. 

Having regained the woods in safety, I ventured to 
go as far as the side of a swamp, which I knew to be 
at the distance of two or three hundred yards, by the 
appearance of the timber. When in the swamp, I 
felt pretty secure, but determined that I would nevei 
again attempt to travel in the neighborhood of a plan- 
tation in the daytime. 

When in the swamp a quarter of a mile, I collected 
some dry wood and lighted it with the aid of my 
tinder-box, flint, and steel. This was the first fire 
that I kindled on my journey, and I was careful to 
burn none but dry wood, to prevent the formation of 
smoke. Here I roasted my corn, and ate as much of 
it as I could. After my dinner I lay down and slept 
for three or four hours. When I awoke, the sun was 
scarcely visible through the tree-tops. It was even- 
ing, and prudence required me to leave the swamp 
before dark, lest I shou .d not be able to find my way out. 



318 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

A2:)proacliing tlie edge of the swamp, I watched the 
going down of the sun, and noted the stars as they 
appeared in the heavens. I had long since learned to 
distinecuish the north-star from all the other small 
luminaries of the night ; and the seven pointers were 
familiar to me. These heavenly bodies were all the 
guides I had to direct me on my way, and as soon as 
the night had set in, I commenced my march through 
the woods, bearing as nearly due east as I could. 

1 took this course for the purpose of getting down 
the country as far as the road leading from Augusta 
to Morgan County, with the intention of pursuing the 
route by which I had come out from South Carolina ; 
deeming it more safe to travel the high road by night, 
than to attempt to make my w^ay at random over the 
country, g aided only by the stars. I traveled all 
night, keeping the north-star on my left hand as 
nearly as I could, and passing many plantations, tak- 
ing care to keep at a great distance from the houses. 
I think I traveled at least twenty-five miles to-night, 
without passing any road that appeared so wide, or 
so much beaten as that which I had traveled when I 
came from South Carolina. This night I passed 
through a peach orchard, laden with fine ripe fruit, 
with Yvdiich I filled my pockets and hat ; and before 
day, in crossing a corn-field, I pulled a supply of 
roasting-ears, with which and my peaches, I retired 



The Life of an American Skive. 319 



at break of day lo a lai'ge wood, into wliicli I traveled 
more than a mile before I halted. Here, in the midst 
of a thicket of high whortleberry bushes, I encamped for 
the day. I made my breakfast U23on roasted corn and 
peaches, and then lay down and slept, unmolested, 
until after twelve o'clock, when I awoke and rose up 
for the purpose of taking a better view of my quarters ; 
but I was scarcely on my feet, when I was attacked 
by a swarm of hornets, that issued from a large nest 
that hung on the limb of a tree, within twenty or 
thirty feet of me. 

I knew that the best means of making peace with 
my hostile neighbors, was to lie down with my face to 
the ground, and this attitude I quickly took, not 
however before I had been stung by several of my 
assailants, which kept humming through the air about 
me for a long time, and prevented me from leaving 
this spot until after sundown, and after they had re- 
tired to rest for the night. I now commenced the 
attack on my part, and taking a handful of dry leaves, 
approached the nest, which was full as large as a half 
bushel, and thrusting the leaves into the hole at the 
bottom of the nest, through which its tenants passed 
in and out, secured the whole garrison prisoners in 
their own citadel. I now cut off the branch upon 
which the nest hung, and threw it with its contents 
into my evening fire, over which I roasted a supply of 
corn for my night's journey. 



320 . Fifty Years in Cliains ; 



or. 



Commencing my march this evening soon after night- 
fall, I traveled until about one o'clock in the mornino- 
as nearly as I could estimate the time by the appear- 
ance of the stars, when I came upon a road which, 
from its width and beaten appearance, seemed to be 
the' road to Morgan County. After traveling for a day 
or two near this road, I at last found myself at day- 
break one morning in sight of the home of my late 
master's friend, spoken of in our journey to Savannah. 
I was desperately hungry, and the idea swayed me to 
throw myself upon his generosity and beg for food. 

It seemed to me that this gentleman was too bene- 
volent a man to arrest and send me back to my cruel 
mistress ; and yet how could I expect, or even hope, 
that a cotton planter would see a runaway slave on his 
premises, and not cause him to be taken up and sent 
home ? Failing to seize a runaway slave, when he has 
him in his power, is held to be one of the most dis- 
honorable acts to which a southern jDlanter can subject 
himself ISTor should the people of the :N'orth be sur- 
prised at this. Slaves are regarded, in the South, as 
the most precious of all earthly possessions ; and, at 
the same time, as a precarious and hazardous kind of 
property, in the enjoyment of which the master is not 
safe. The planters may well be compared to the in- 
habitants of a national frontier, which is exposed to 
the inroads of hostile invading tiibes. AVhere all are 



The Life of an American Slave. 321 



in like danger, and subject to like fears, it is expected 
that all will be governed by like sentiments, and act 
upon like princi])les. 

I stood and looked at the house of this good planter 
for more than an hour after the sun had risen, and 
saw all the movements wliidi usually take place on a 
cotton plantation in the morning. Long before the 
sun was up, the overseer had proceeded to the field at 
the head of the hands ; the black women who attended 
to the catth-, and milked the cows, had gone to the 
cowpen with their pails ; and the smoke ascended from 
the chimney of the kitchen, before the doors of the 
great house were opened, or any of the members of the 
flimily were seen abroad. At length two young ladies 
opened the door, and stood in the freshness'^of the 
morning air. These were soon joined by a brother ; 
and at last I saw the gentleman himself leave the 
house and walk towards the stables, that stood at some 
distance from the house on my left. I think even now 
that it was a foolish resolution that emboldened me to 
show myself to this gentleman. It was like throwing 
one's self in the way of a lion who is known sometimes 
to spare those whom he might destroy ; but I resolved 
to go and meet this planter at his stables, and tell him 
my whole story. Issuing from the woods, I crossed 
the fields unperceived by the people at the house, and 
going directly to the stab es, presented myself to their 



U 



322 Fifty Tears in Chains ; or, 

proprietor, as lie stood looking tat a fine horse in one 
of the yards. At first he did not know me, and asked 
me whose man I was. I then asked him if he did not 
remember me ; and named the time when I had been 
at his house. I then told at once that I was a run- 
away : that my master was dead, and my mistress so 
cruel that I could not live with her : not omitting to 
show the scars on my back, and to give a full account 
of the manner in which they had been made. The 
gentleman stood and looked at me more than a min- 
ute, without uttering a word, and then said, " I will 
not betray you, but you must not stay here. It must 
not be known that you were on this plantation, and 
that I saw and conversed with you. However, as I 
suppose you are hungry, you may go to the kitchen 
and get your breakfast with my house servants." 

He then set off for the house, and I followed, but 
turning into the kitchen, as he ordered me, I was soon 
supplied with a good breakfast of cold meat, warm 
bread, and as much new buttermilk as I chose to drink. 
Before I sat down to breakfast, the lady of the house 
came into the kitchen, with her two daughters, and 
gave me a dram of peach brandy. I drank this brandy, 
and was very thankful for it ; but I am fully convinced 
now that it did me much more harm than good ; and 
that this part of the kindness of this most excellent 
familv was altogether misplaced. 



'Hie Life of an American Slave. 323 



Vv'hilst I was taking my Lreakfiist, a black man 
came into tho kitchen, and gave mc a dollar that he 
said his master had sent me, at the same time laying 
on the table before me a package of bread and meat, 
weighing at least ten i^oimds, wrapped up in a cloth. 
On delivering these things, the black man told me that 
his master desired me to quit his premises as soon as 
I Iiad finished my breakflist. 

Tliis injunction I obeyed, and within less than an 
hour after I entered tliis truly hosi)itable house, I 
quitted it forever, but not without leaving behind me 
my holiest blessings upon the heads of its inhabitants. 
It was yet early in the morning when I regained the 
woods on the opposite side of the plantation from that 
by which I had entered it. 



324 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



CHAPTEE XYI. 

I could not believe it j)Ossible that the white people 
whom I had just left, would give information of the 
route I hod taken ; but as it was possible that all who 
dwelt on this plantation might not be so pure of heart 
as were they who possessed it, I thought it prudent to 
travel some distance in the woods, before I stopped for 
the day, notwithstanding the risk of moving about in 
the open light. For the purpose of precluding the 
possibility of being betrayed, I now determined to quit 
this road, and travel altogether in the woods or through 
open fields, for two or three nights, guiding my march 
by the stars. In pursuance of this resolution, I bore 
away to the left of the high road, and traveled five or 
six miles before I stopped, going round all the fields 
that I saw in my way, and keeping them at a good 
distance from me. 

In the afternoon of this day it rained, and I had no 
other shelter than the boughs and leaves of a large 
magnolia tree ; but this kept me tolerably dry, and as 



The Life of an American Slave. 325 



it cleared away in tlie evening, I was able to continue 
my journey by starliglit. I have no definite idea of 
the distance that I traveled in the course of this and 
the two succeeding nights, as I had no road to guide 
me, and was much perplexed by the plantations and 
houses, the^ latter of which I most carefully eschewed ; 
but on the third night after this I encountered a dan- 
ger, which was very nearly flital to me. 

At the time of which I now speak, the moon having 
changed lately, shone until about eleven o'clock. I 
had been on my way two or three hours this evenino- 
and all the w^orld seemed to be quiet, when I entered 
a plantation that lay quite across my way. In passing 
through these fields, I at last saw the houses, and 
otlier improvements, and about a hundred yards from 
the house, a peach orchard, which I could distinguish 
by the faint light of the moon. This orchard was but 
little out of my way, and a quarter of a mile, as nearly 
as I could judge, from the woods. I resolved to ex- 
amine these peach trees, and see what fruit was on 
them. Coming amongst them, I found the fruit of 
the kind called Indian peaches in Georgia. 

These Indian peaches are much the largest and finest 

peaches that I have ever seen, one of them oftentimes 

being as large as a common quince. I had filled all 

my pockets, and was filling my handkerchief with this 

'delicious fnit, which is of deep red, when I heard the 



326 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



loud growl of a dog toward the house, the roof of which 
I could see. I stood as still as a stone, but yet the 
dog growled on, and at length barked out. I presume 
he smelled me, for he could not hear me. In a short 
time I found that the dog was coming towards me, and 
I then started and ran as fast as I could for the woods. 
He now barked louder, and was followed by another 
dog, both making a teriible noise. I was then pretty 
light of foot, and was already close by the woods 
when the first dog overtook me. I carried a good stick 
in my hand, and with this I kept the dogs at bay, 
until I gained the fence and escaped into the woods ; 
but now I heard the shouts of men encouraging the 
dogs, both of Yvdiich were now up with me, and the 
men were coming as fast as they could. The dogs 
would not permit me to run, and unless I could make 
free use of my heels, it was clear that I must be taken 
in a few minutes. I now thought of my masters 
sword, which I had not removed from its quilted scab- 
bard, in my great coat, since I commenced my journey. 
I snatched it from its sheath, and at a single cut laid 
open the head of the largest and fiercest of the dogs, 
from his neck to his nose. He gave a loud yell and 
fell dead on the ground. The other dog, seeing the 
fate of his companion, leaped the fence, and escaped 
into the field, where he stopped, and like a cowardly 
cur, set up a clamorous barking at the enemy he was 



Fhe Life of an American Slave. 327 



ti-uia v:. :>jk in the flico. I tlionglit this no time to 
wait to p^c-.ttain what the men wouhl say when they 
came to i\n^if [lead clog, but made the best of my way 
through the >»oods, and did not stop to look behind 
me for more ibm an hour. In my battle with the 
dogs, I lost ah n\y j^eaches, except a few that remain- 
ed in my pockets ; and in running through the woods 
I tore my clothes very badly, a disaster not easily re- 
paired in my situalion ; but I had proved the solidity 
of my own judgment in putting up my sword as a part 
of my traveling equipao;e. 

I now considered it accessary to travel as fast as 
possible, and get as far as I could before day from the 
late battle-ground, and certainly I lost no time ; but 
from the occurrences of the next day, I am of opinion 
that I had not continuel in a straight line all night, 
but that I must have tiaveled in a circular or zio-za^ 

a O 

route. When a man is greatly alarmed, and in a 
strange country, he is not able to note courses, or cal- 
culate distances very accu ;ately. 

Daylight made its appearance, when I was moving 
to the South, for the daybreak was on my left hand ; 
but I immediately stopped, went into a thicket of low 
white oak bushes, and lay down to rest myself, for L 
was very weary, and soon fell asleep, and did not 
awake until it was ten or eleven o'clock. Before I fell 
asleep, I noted the course of the rising sun, from the 



323 F: V s in Chains : or 



jiLace -R-iiere I lay, in pnrsnanoe of a rule mat I had 
es- " : 131 1>T tliis means I could tell the time 

of _-. -1 -^y ho XT. wiihin a short pericvd of time, b^ 

taMng the h-earing ci the sun in the LcaY^:^. from 
-where I lay, and then : g it witi rV place of 

^^; 7 ' -'--.:--- hnngrv " * :'- - -.:- 

in- _ :. __;^ _ ri. but :J. 

sense cf dis>^nieniie and alana. It seemed to me 
that this Wis not a safe place to lie in, although it 
looked as well as any ciher spot that I conld see. I 
roso " " ' " : " ' '- - — --e retreat, hut not see- 
in- „_ ... _ _ _ . — I was uneasy^ and conld 
BOt lie still Finally I determined to get up, and re- 
more to the side c : . long black log, that 

laT at tie disianoe ci s-veniv or eii^htT yards from 



to sleet) agiin, if I could : but I had ni-t been here 
more insn £freen or two-~ ziinooes. when I heard 

the noise of mens Toices. and soon afrer the tramping 
: - - - ' - nni I lay with my I: ': - -'\^ 

I . - ^ that I eonld see the i- 

II .in the bnshrs. I si^ two dogs g: 
this iitiifi thicket, and three hoisemen rode over the 
Teiy ST " in when asleep in the m: r - 
■2n i ino_ „....- - and Toi-oes were a: iqt _ . ^ 



The Life of an Ameucan Slave. 329 



around me, and over me. Two horses jumped over 
the log by the side of which I lay, one about ten feel 
from my feet, and the other witliin two yards from mj 
head. The liorses both saw me, took fright, and start- 
ed to run ; but fortunately their riders, who were pro- 
bably looking for me in the tops of the trees, or ex- 
l-ectingto sec me start before them in the woods, and 
run for my life, did not see me, and attributed the 
alarm of their horses to the black appearance of the 
log, for I heard one of them say-" Our horses are 
afraid of black logs : I wonder how they would stand 
the sight of the negro if wo sliould meet him." 

There must have been in the troop at least twenty 
horsemen, and the number of dogs was greater tlian I 
could count as they ran in the woods. I knew that 
all these men and dogs were in search of me, and that 
if they could find me I should be hunted do™ like a 
^Nild beast. The dogs that had gone into the thicket 
where I had been, fortunately for me had not been 
tramed to hunt negroes in the wood.s, and were proba- 
bly brought out for the purpose of being trained- 
Doubtless if some of the kept dogs, as they are called 
of wh.ch there were certainly several in this large pack - 
had happened to go into that thicket, instead of thos- 
that did go there, my race would soon have been run 
I lay still by tlie side of the log for a long time after 
the horses, dogs and men had ceased to trouble the 



330 Fifty Years in Cltains ; or, 



woods with their noise ; if it can be said that a man 
lies still who is trembling in every joint, nerve and 
muscle, like a dog lying upon a cake of ice ; and when 
I arose and turned round, I found myself so completely 
bereft of understanding, that I could not tell South 
from North, nor East from West. I could not even 
distinguish the thicket of bushes, from which I had 
removed to come to this place, from the other bushes 
of the woods. I remained here all day, and at night 
it appeared to me that the sun set in the south-east 
After sundown, the moon appeared to my distempered 
judgment to stand due ±\orth from me, and all the 
stars were out of their places. Fortunately I had 
sense enough remaining to know that it would not be 
safe for me to attempt to travel, until my brain had 
been restored to its ordinary stability ; which did not 
take place until the third morning after my fright. 
The three days that I passed in this place I reckon 
the most unhappy of my life ; for surely it is the 
height of human misery to be oppressed with aliena- 
tion of mind, and to be conscious of the affliction. 

Distracted as I was, I had determined never to quit 
this wood, and voluntarily return to slavery ; and the 
joy I felt on the third morning, when I saw the sun 
rise in his proper place in the heavens ; the black log, 
the thicket of bushes, and all other things resume the 
positions in which I found them, may be imagined by 



The L)Jc of an American Slavt 



those who have been saved from apparently hopeless 
shipwreck on a barren rock in the midst of the ocean, 
but cannot be described by any but a poetic pen. 

I spent this day in making short excursions through 
the woods, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any 
road was near to me or not ; and in the afternoon I 
came to one, about a mile from my camp, which was 
broad, and had the appearance of being much traveled. 
It appeared to mc to lead to the North. 

Awhile before sundown, I brought my bundle to 
this road, and lay down quietly to awnit the approach 
of niglit. AVhcn it was quite dark, except the light 
of the moon, which was now brilliant, I took to this 
road, and traveled all n'vAit without hearing; or seein"- 
any person, and on the succeeding night, about two 
o'clock in the morning, I came to the margin of a river, 
so wide that I could not see across it ; but the fog was 
so dense at this time that I could not have seen across 
a river of very moderate width. I procured a long 
pole, and sounded the depth of the water, which I 
found not very deep ; but as I could not see the oppo- 
site shore, was afraid to attempt to ford the stream. 

In this dilemma, I turned back from the river, ana 
went more than a mile to gain the covert of a small 
wood, where I might pass the day in safety, and wait 
a flivorable moment for obtaining a view of the river, 
preparatory to crossing it. I lay all day in full view 



332 Fifty Years in Chains; or, 



of the higli road, and saw, at leapt, a hundred people 
pass; from which I inferred, that the country was 
populous ahout me. In the evening, as soon as it was 
dark, I left my retreat, and returned to the river side. 
The atmosphere was now clear, and the river seemed 
to be at least a quarter of a mile in width ; and whilst 
I was divesting myself of my clothes, preparatory to 
entering the water, happening to look down the shore 
I saw a canoe, with its head drawn high on the beach. 
On reaching the canoe, I found that it was secured to 
the trunk of a tree by a lock and chain ; but after 
many efforts, I broke the lock and launched the canoe 
into the river. The paddles had been removed, but 
with the aid of my sounding-pole, I managed to con- 
duct the canoe across the water. 

I was now once more in South Carolina, where I 
knew it was necessary for me to be even more watchful 
than I had been in Georgia. I do not know where I 
crossed the Savannah river, but I think it must have 
been only a few miles above the town of Augusta. 

After gaining the Carolina shore, I took an observa- 
tion of the rising moon and of such stars as I was ac- 
quainted with, and hastened to get away from the river, 
from which I knew that heavy fogs rose every night, 
at this season of the year, obscuring the heavens for 
many miles on either side. I traveled this night at 
least twenty miles, and provided myself with a supply 



The Life of an American Slave. 333 



of corn, which was now hard, from a field at the side 
of the road. At daybreak I turned into the woods, 
and went to the top of a hill on my left, where the 
ground was overgrown by the species of pine-tree call- 
ed spruce in the South. I here kindled a fire, and 
parched corn for my breakfast. 

In the afternoon of this day the weather became 
cloudy, and before dark the rain fell copiously, and 
continued through the night, with the wind high. I 
took shelter under a large stooping tree that was de- 
cayed and hollow on the lower side, and kept me dry 
until morning. When daylight appeared, I could see 
that the country around me was well inhabited, and 
that the forest in which I lay was surrounded by plan- 
tations, at the distance of one or two miles from me. 
I did not consider this a safe position, and waited 
anxiously for night, to enable me to change my quar- 
ters. The weather was foul throughout the day ; and 
when night returned, it was so dark that I could not 
see a large tree three feet before mo. Waiting until 
the moon rose, I made my way back to the road, but 
had not proceeded more than two or three miles on my 
way, when I came to a i^lace where the road forked, 
and the two roads led away almost at right angles 
from each other. It was so cloudy that I could not 
see the 2:»lace of the moon in the heavens, and I knew 
not which of these roads to take To go wrong was 



334 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

worse than to stand still, and I therefore determined 
to look out for some spot in which I conld hide myself, 
and remain in this neighborhood until the clearing up 
of the weather. ' Taking the right hand road, I fol- 
lowed its course until I saw at the distance, as I com- 
puted it in the night, of two miles from me a large 
forest which covered elevated ground. I gained it by 
the shortest route across some cotton fields. Going 
several hundred yards into this wood, I attempted to 
kindle a fire, in which I fLiiled, every combustible sub- 
stance being wet. This compelled me to pass the 
night as well as I could amongst the damp bushes 
and trees that overhung me. When day came, I went 
farther into the woods, and on the top of the highest 
ground that I could see, established my camp, by cut- 
ting bushes with my knife, and erecting a sort of rude 
booth. 

It was now, by my computation, about the twenty- 
fifth of August, and I remained here eleven days with- 
out seeing one clear night ; and in all this time the 
sun never shone for half a day at once. I procured 
my subsistence while here from a field of corn which 
I discovered at the distance of a mile and a half from 
my camp. This was the first time that I was weather- 
bound, and my patience had been worn out and re- 
newed rej^eatedly before the return of the clear 
weather ; but one afternoon I perceived the trees to 



The Life of an American Slave. 335 

be much agitated by the wind, the clouds appeared 
high, and were driven with velocity over my head. I 
saw the clear sky ap})car in all its beauty in the north- 
west. Before sundown the wind was high, the sun 
shone in full splendor, and a few fleecy clouds, career 
ing high in tlie upper vault of heaven, gave assurance 
tliat the rains were over and gone. 

At nightfall I returned to the forks of the road, and 
after much observation, finally concluded to follow the 
riglit hand road, in whicli I am satisfied that I com- 
mitted a great error. Nothing worthy of notice occur- 
rrd f n* several days after this. As I was now in a 
tliickly-peopled country, I never moved until long 
after night, and was cautious never to permit daylight 
to find me on the road ; but I observed that the north- 
star was always on my left hand. My object was to 
reach the neigliborhood of Columbia, and get upon the 
road which I had traveled and seen years before in 
coming to the South ; but the road I was now on must 
have been the great Charleston road, leading down the 
country, and not across the courses of the rivers. So 
many people traveled this road, as well by night as by 
day, that my progress was very slow ; and in some of 
the nights I did not travel more than eight miles. At 
the end of a week, after leaving the forks, I found my- 
self in a flat, sandy, poor country ; and as I had not 
met with any river nn this road, I now concluded that 



336 ^ifty years in Chains) or, 

I was on the way to the sea-hoard instead of Colum- 
bia. In my perplexity, I resolved to try to get info) ; , 
mation concerning the country I w^as in, by placing 
myself in some obscure place in the side of the road, 
and listening to the conversation of travelers as they 
passed me. For this purpose I chose the corner of a 
cotton field, around which the road turned, and led 
along the fence for some distance. Passing the day 
in the woods among the pine-trees, I came to this cor- 
ner in the evening, and lying down within the field, 
waited patiently the coming of travelers, that I might 
hear their conversation, and endeavor to learn from 
that which they said, the name at least of some place 
hi this neighborhood. On the first and second even- 
ings that I lay here, I gleaned nothing from the pas - 
sengers that I thought could be of service to me ; but 
on the third night, about ten o'clock, several wagons 
drawn by mules passed me, and I heard one of the 
drivers call to another and tell him that it was sixty 
miles to Charleston ; and that they should be able to 
reach the river to-morrow. I could not at first imag- 
ine what river this could be ; but another of the wag- 
oners inquired how far it was to the Edisto, to which 
it was replied by some one that it was near thirty 
miles. I now perceived that I had mistaken my course, 
and w^as as completely lost as a wild goose in cloudy 
weather. 



The Life of an Americcm Slave. 337 

Not knowing wliat to do, I retraced the road that 
had led me to this place for several nights, hoping 
that something would happen from w^hich I might 
learn the route to Columbia ; hut I gained no informa- 
tion that could avail me anything. At length I de- 
termined to quit this road altogether, travel by the 
north-star for two or three weeks, and after that to 
trust to Providence to guide me to some road that 
might lead me back to Maryland. Having turned my 
face due North, I made my way pretty well for the 
nrst night ; but on the second, the fog was so dense 
that no stars could be seen. This compelled me to 
remain in my camp, which I had pitclied in a swamjJ. 
In this place I remained more than a week, waiting 
for clear nights ; but now the equinoctial storm came 
on, and raged with a fury which I had never before 
witnessed in this annual gale ; at least it had ne"3r 
before appeared so violent to me, because, perhaps, I 
nad never been exposed to its blasts, without the shel- 
ter of a house of some kind. This storm continued 
four days ; and no wolf ever lay closer in his lair, or 
moved out with more stealthy caution than I did 
during this time. My subsistence was drawn from a 
small corn-field at the edge of the swamp in which I lay. 

After the storm was over, the weather became calm 

and clear, and I fell into a road which ap^^eared to run 

nearly north-west. Following the course of this road 

15 



338 Fifty Years in Chaijis ; or, 

by short marclies^ because I was obliged to start late 
at night and stoj^ before day, I came on the first day, 
or rather night, of October, by my calendar, to a broad 
and well-frec[uented road that crossed mine at nearly 
right angles. These roads crossed in the middle of 
a plantation, and I took to the right hand along this 
great road, and pursued it in the same cautious and 
slow manner that I had traveled for the last month. 

When the day came I took refuge in the woods as 
usual, choosing the highest piece of ground that I 
could find in the neighborhood. Ko part of this coun- 
try was very high, but I thought jDCople who visited 
these woods, would be less inclined to walk to the tops 
of the hills, than to keep their course along the low 
groimds. 

I had lately crossed many small streams ; but on 
the second night of my journey on this road, came to 
a narrow but deep river, and after the most careful 
search, no boat or craft of any kind could be found on 
my side. A large flat, with two or three canoes, lay 
on the opposite side, but they were as much out of 
my reach as if they had never been made. There was 
no alternative but swimming this stream, and I made 
the transit in less than three minutes, carrying my 
packages on my back. 

I had as yet fallen in with no considerable towns, 
and whenever I had seen a house near the road, or one 



The Life of an American Slave. 



339 



of the small hamlets of the South in ,nv way I had 
gone round by the woo.l, or fields, so as 'to avoid the 
inhabitants ; but on tlic fourth night after swimm.n.^ 
the small river, I came in sight of a considerable vil! 
lage, witli lights burning and shining fln-nngh many 
of the windows. I knew the danger of passing a town' 
on account of the patrols with which all southern 
towns arc provided, and making a long circuit to the 
right, so as totally to avoid this village, I came to the 
banks of a broad river, wliich, upon further examina- 
tion, I found flowing past the village, and near its 
border. Tlds compelled me to go back, and attempt 
to turn the village on the left, which was performed 
by wandering a long time in swamps and pine woods. 
It was break of day when I regained the road be- 
yond the village, and returning to the swamps from 
^^•hich I had first issued, I- passed the day under their 
cover. On the following night, after regaining the 
road, I soon found myself in a country almost entirely 
clear of timber, and abounding in fields of cotton and 
com. 

The houses were numerous, and the barking of doos 
was incessant. I felt that I was in the midst of dan- 
gers, and that I was entering a region vers^ different 
from those tracts of country through which I had lately 
passed, where the gloom of the wilderness was only 
broken by solitary plantations or lonely huts. I had 



340 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

no doubt that I was in the neighborhood of some town, 
but of its name, and the part of the country in which 
it was located, I was ignorant. I at length found that 
I was receding from the woods altogether, and entering 
a champaign country, in the midst of which I now 
perceived a town of considerable magnitude, the inhab- 
itants of which were entirely silent, and the town itself 
presented the appearance of total solitude. The coun- 
try around w^as so open, that I desj)aired of turning so 
large a place as this was, and again finding the road I 
traveled, I therefore determined to risk all conse- 
quences, and attempt to pass this town under cover of 
darkness. 

Keeping straight forward, I came unexpectedly to 
a broad river, which I now saw running between me 
and the town. I took it for granted that there must 
be a ferry at this jDlace, and on examining the shore, 
found several small boats fastened only with ropes to 
a large scow. One of these boats I seized, and was 
quickly on the opposite shore of the river. I entered 
the village and proceeded to its centre, without seeing 
so much as a rat in motion. Finding myself in an 
open space, I stopped to examine the streets, and upon 
looking at the houses around me, I at once recognized 
the jail of Columbia, and the tavern in wdiich I had 
lodired on the nio-ht after I was sold. 

O O 

This discover}^ made me fe^I almost at home, with 



The Life of an American Slave, 341 



my %vifc and children. I remembered the streets by 
wliicli I had come from the country to the jail, and 
Avas quickly at the extremity of the town, marching 
towards tlie residence of the paltry planter, at whose 
house I had lodged on my way South. It was late at 
night, when I left Columbia, and it was necessary for 
mo to make all speed, and get as far as possible from 
that place before day. I ran rather than walked, until 
the appearance of dawn, wlien I k-ft the road and took 
shelter in the i,inc wood?, with wliidi tliis ])art of th( 
country abounds. 

I had now been traveling almost two months, and 
was still so near the place from which I first departed 
that I could easily have walked to it in a week, by 
daylight ; but I ho])ed, that as I was now on a road 
with which I was acquainted, and in a country through 
which I had traveled before, that my future progre'^ss 
would be more rapid, and that I should be abfe to 
surmount, without difliculty, many of the obstacles 
that had hitherto embarrassed me so greatly. 

It was now in my power to avail myself of the know- 
ledge I had foi-merly acquired of the customs of South 
Carolina. The patrol are very rigid in the execution 
of the authority with which they are invested ; but I 
never had much difficulty with these officers anywhere. 
From dark until ten or eleven o'clock at night, the 
patrol are watchful, and always traversing the country 



S42 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

in quest of negroes, but towards midnight these gen- 
tlemen grow cold, or sleepy, or weary, and generally 
betake themselves to some house, where they can pro- 
cure a comfortable fire. 

I now established, as a rule of my future conduct, 
to remain in my hiding place until after ten o'clock, 
according to my computation of time ; and this night 
I did not come to the road until I supposed it to be 
within an hour of midnight, and it was well for me 
that I practiced so much caution, for when within two 
or three hundred yards of the road, I heard peoj)le con- 
versing. After standing some minutes in the woods, 
and listeniDg to the voices at the road, the people 
separated, and a party took each end of the road, and 
galloped away upon their horses. These people were 
certainly a band of patrollers, who w^ere watching this 
road, and had just separated to return home for the 
night. After the horsemen were quite out of hearing, 
I came to the road, and w^alked as fast as I could for 
hours, and again came into the lane leading to the 
house, where I had first remained a few days, in Caro- 
lina. Turning away from the road I j^assed through 
this plantation, near the old cotton-gin house in which 
I had formerly lodged, and perceived that every thing 
on this plantation v\\is nearly as it was when I left it. 
Two or three mihs from this place I again left the 
road, and sought a place of concealment, and from 



The Life of an American Slavn 343 



this time until I reachca Maryland, I never remained 
in tlie road until daylight but once, and I jiaid dearly 
then for my temerity. 

I was now in an open, thiekly-peopled country, in 
comparison with many other tracts througli which I 
had passed ; and this circumstance compelled me to 
observe the greater caution. As nearly as possible, I 
confined my traveling witliin the hours of midnight 
and three o'clock in the morning. Parties of patrd- 
lers were heard by me almost every morning before 
day. These people sometimes moved directly aiong 
the roads, but more frequently lay in wait near the 
^ide of the road, ready to pounce upon any runaway 
flave that miglit chance to pass ; but I knew oy former 
experience that they never lay out all night, except in 
times of apprehended danger ; and the coaniry ap- 
pearing at tliis time to be quiet, I f,,lt but little appre- 
hension of flilling in with tliese policemen, within my 
traveling hours. 

There was now plenty of corn in the fields, and 
sweet potatoes had not yet been dug. -There was no 
scarcity of provisions with me, and my health was 
good, and my strength unimpaired. For more than 
two weeks I pursued the road that had led me from 
Columbia, believing I was on my way to Camden.— 
Many small streams crossed my way, but none of 
them were large enough to oblige me to swim in cross- 
in.2: them. 



j44 Fifhj Years in Chains ; or, 



CHAPTER XVII. 

On the twenty-fourth of October, according to my 
computation, in a dark night, I came to a river which 
appeared to be both broad and deep. Sounding its 
depth with a pole, I found it too deep to be forded, 
and after the most careful search along the shore, no 
boat could be discovered. This place appeared alto- 
gether strange to me, and I began to fear that I was 
airain lost. Confident that I had never before been 
where I now found myself, and ignorant of the other 
side of the stream, I thought it best not to attempt to 
cross this water until I was better informed of the 
country through which it flowed. A thick wood bor- 
dered the road* on my left, and gave me shelter until 
daylight. Ascending a tree at sunrise that overlooked 
the stream, which appeared to be more than a mile in 
width, I perceived on the opposite shore a house, and 
one large and several small boats in the river. I re- 
mained in this tree the greater part of the day, and 
saw several persons cross the river, some of whom had 



The Life of an Aintn'oan Slave. 345 



horses ; but in the evening the boats were all taken 
back to tlie place at which I had seen them in the 
morning. The river was so broad that I felt some fear 
of faihng in the attempt to swim it ; but seeing no 
prospect of procuring a boat to transport me, I re- 
solved to attempt the navigation as soon as it was 
dark. Al^out nine o'clock at night, having equipped 
myself in the best manner I was able, I undertook this 
hazardous navigation, and succeeded in gaining the 
flirther sliore of tlie river, in about an hour, with all 
my things in safety. On the previous day I had noted 
the bearing of tlie road, as it led from the river, and 
in the middle of the night I again resumed my jour- 
ney, in a state of perplexity bordering upon despera- 
tion ; for it was now evident that this was not the 
road by which we had traveled when we came to the 
southern country, and on which hand to turn to reach 
the right way I knew not. 

After traveling five or six miles on this road, and 
having the north-star in view all the time, I became 
satisfied that my course lay northwest, and that I was 
consequently going out of my way ; and to heighten 
my anxiety, I had not tasted any animal food since I 
crossed the Savannah river— a sensation of hunger 
harassed me constantly ; but fortune, which had be^en 
60 long adverse to me, and had led me so often astray, 
had now a little favor in store for me. The leaves 



346 Fifty Years in Chains ; 



or 



were already fallen from some of the more tender trees, 
and near the road I this night i^erceived a persimmon 
tree, well laden with fruit, and whilst gathering the 
fallen persimmons under the tree, a noise over head 
arrested my attention. This noise was caused by a 
large opossum, which was on the tree gathering fruit 
like myself. With a long stick the animal was brought 
to the ground, and it proved to be very fat, weighing 
at least ten pounds. With such a luxury as this in 
my possession, I could not think of traveling far with- 
out tasting it, and accordingly halted about a mile 
from the persimmon tree, on a rising ground in a 
thick wood, where I killed my opossum, and took off 
its skin, a circumstance that I much regretted, for 
with the skin I took at least a pound of fine fiit. 
Had I possessed the means of scalding my game, and 
dressing it like a pig, it would have afforded me pro- 
vision for a week ; but as it was, I made a large fire 
and roasted my prize before it, losing all the oil that 
ran out in the operation, for want of a dripping-pan 
to catch it. It was daylight when my meat was ready 
for the table, and a very sumptuous breakfast it yield- 
ed me. 

Since leaving Columbia, I had followed as nearly 
as the course of tlie roads permitted, the index of the 
north-star ; which, I supposed, would lead me on the 
most direct route to Maryland ; but I now became 



The Life of an American Slave. 347 

convinced, that this star was leading me away from 
the line hy which I had approached the cotton country. 

I slept none this day, but passed the whole time, 
from breakfast until night, in considering the means 
of regaining my lost way. From the aspect of the 
country I arrived at the conclusion, that I was not 
near the sea-coast ; for there were no swamps in all 
this region ; the land lay rather high and rolling, and 
oak timber abounded. 

At the return of night, I resumed my journey earlier 
than usual ; paying no regard to the roads, but keep- 
ing the north- star on my left hand, as nearly as I could. 
This night I killed a rabbit, which had leaped from the 
bushes before me, by throwing my walking stick at it. 
It was roasted at my stopping place in the morning, 
and was very good. 

I pursued the same course, keeping the north-star on 
my left hand for three nights ; intending to get as far 
East as the road leading from Columbia to Kichmond, 
in Virginia ; but as my line of march lay almost con- 
tinually in the woods, I made but little progress ; 
and on the third day, the weather became cloudy, so 
that I could not see the stars. This again compelled 
me to lie by, until the return of fair weather. 

On the second day, after I had stopped this time, 
the sun shone out bright in the morning, and contin- 
ued to shed a g/orious light during the day ; but in 



348 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

the evening, the heavens became overcast with clouds ; 
and the night that followed was so dark, that I did 
not attempt to traveh This state of the weather con- 
tinued more than a week ; obliging me to remain 
stationary all this time. These cloudy nights were 
succeeded by a brisk wind from the north-west, accom- 
panied by fine clear nights, in which I made the best 
of my way towards the north-east, pursuing ^y course 
across the country without regard to roads, forests, or 
streams of water ; crossing many of the latter, none of 
which were deep, but some of them were extremely 
muddy. One night I became entangled in a thick 
and deep swamp ; the trees that grew in which, were 
so tall, and stood so close together, that the interlock- 
ing of their boughs, and the deep foliage in which they 
were clad, prevented me from seeing the stars. Wan- 
dering there for several hours, most of the time with 
mud and water over my knees, and frequently wading 
in stagnant pools, with deep slimy bottoms, I became 
totally lost, and was incapable of seeing the least ap- 
pearance of fast land. At length, giving up all hope 
of extricating myself from this abyss of mud, water, 
brambles, and fallen timber, I scrambled on a large 
tussock, and sat down to await the coming of day, 
with the intention of going to the nearest high land, 
as SO' )n as the sun should be up. The nights were now 
becoming cool, and though I did not see any frost in 



Tlic Life of an American Slave. 349 



the swcamp where I was in the morning, I have no 
doubt that hoar frost was seen in the dry and open 
country. After daylight I found myself as much per- 
j^lexed as I was at midnight. No shore was to be 
seen ; and in every direction there was the same deep, 
dreary, black solitude. To add io my misfortune, the 
morning proved cloudy, and when the sun was up, I 
could not tell the east from the west. After waitinnr 

o 

several hours for a sight of the sun, and failing to ob- 
tain it, I set out in search of a running stream of water, 
intending to strike off at riglit angles, with the course 
of the current, and endeavor to reach the dry ground 
by this means ; but after wandering about, through 
tangled bushes, briars, and vines, clambering over fallen 
tree-tops, and wading through fens overgrown with 
saw grass, for two or three hours, I sat down in des- 
pair of finding any guide to conduct me from this de- 
testable place. 

My bag of meal that I took with me at the com- 
mencement of my journey was long since gone ; and 
the only provisions that I now possessed were a few 
grains of parched corn, and near a pint of chestnuts 
that I had picked up under a tree the day before I 
entered the swamp. The chestnut-tree was full of 
nuts, but I was afraid to throw sticks or to shake the 
tree, lest hunters or other persons hearing the noise, 
might be drawn to the place. 



350 FifUj Years in Cliains ; or, 



About ten o'clock I sat down under a large cypress 
tree, upon a decaying log of the same timber, to make 
my breakfast on a few grains of parclied corn. Near 
me was an open space without trees, but filled with 
water that seemed to be deep, for no grass grew in it, 
except a small quantity near the shore. The water 
w^as on my left hand, and as I sat cracking my corn, 
my attention was attracted by the playful gambols of 
two squirrels that were running and chasing each other 
on the boughs of some trees near me. Half pleased 
with the joyous movements of the little animals, and 
half covetous of their carcasses, to roast and devour 
them, I paid no attention to a succession of sounds on 
my left, which I thought proceeded from the move- 
ment of frogs at the edge of the water, until the break- 
ing of a stick near me caused me to turn my head, 
wdien I discovered that I had other neighbors than 
spring frogs. 

A monstrous alligator had left the water, and was 
crawling over the mud, with his eyes fixed upon me. 
He was now within fifteen feet of me, and in a moment 
more, if he had not broken the stick with his weight, 
I should have become his prey. He could easily have 
knocked me down with a blow of his tail ; and if his 
jaws had once been closed on a leg or an arm, he would 
have dragged me into the water, spite of any resist- 
ance that I could have made. 



The Life cf i\n Amcriccm Shivc. 351 

At the sight of liim, I sprang to my feetj and run- 
nin"- to the other end of the fiillen tree on which I sat, 
and being there out of danger, had an Opportunity of 
viewing the motions of the alligator at leisure. Find- 
inf^ me out of his reach, he raised his trunk from the 
ground, elevated his snout, and gave a wistful look, 
the import of which I well understood ; tlien turning 
slowly round, lie retreated to the water, and sank from 
my vision. 

I was much alarmed hy tliis adventure with the alli- 
gator, for had I fallen in witli tliis liuge reptile in the 
night time, I sh(.>uld have liad no chance of escape 
from his tusks. 

The whole day was spent in the swamp, not in trav- 
eling from place to place, hut in waiting for the sun 
to shine, to enable me to obtain a knowledge of the 
various points of the heavens. The day was slicceeded 
by a night of unbroken darkness ; and it was late in 
the evening of the second day before I saw the sun. 
It being then too late to attempt to extricate myself 
from the swamp for tliat day, I was obliged to pass 
another night in the lodge that I had formed for my- 
self in the thick boughs of a fallen cypress tree, which 
elevated me several feet from the ground, where I be- 
lieved the alligator could not reach me if he should 
come in pursuit of me. 

On the morning of the third day the sun rose beau- 



352 Fifty Tears in Chains ; or, 



tifuUy clear, and at sight of him I set off for the East. 
It must have been five miles from the place where I 
lay to the dry land on the East of the swamp ; for 
with all the exertion that fear and hunger compelled 
me to make, it was two or three o'clock in the after- 
noon when I reached the shore, after swimming in 
several places, and suffering the loss of a very valuable 
part of my clothes, which were torn off by the briars 
and snags. On coming to high ground I found myself 
in the woods, and hungry as I was, lay down to await 
the coming of night, lest some one should see me mov- 
ing through the forest in daylight. 

When night came on, I resumed my journey by the 
stars, which were visible, and marched several miles 
before coming to a plantation. The first that I came 
to was a cotton field ; and after much search, I found 
no corn nor grain of any kind on this j)lace, and was 
compelled to continue on my way. 

Two or three miles further on I was more fortunate, 
and found a field of corn which had been gathered from 
the stalks and thrown in heaps along the ground. — 
Filling my little bag, which I still kept, with this corn, 
I retreated a mile or two in the woods, and strikins: 
fire, encamped for the purpose of parching and eating 
it. After despatching my meal, I lay down beside the 
fire and fell into a sound sleej^, from which I did not 
awake until long after sunrise ; but on rising and look- 



The Life of an Amcruun Slave. 



ing around mc, I found that my lodge Avas within less 
than a hundred yards of a new house that i^coide were 
building in the woods, and upon wliich men were now 
at work. Dropping instantly to the ground, I crawled 
away through tlie woods, until being out of siglit vi 
tlie house, I ventured to rise and escape on my feet. 
After I lay down in the night, my fire had died away 
and emitted no smoke ; this circumstance saved me. 
Tliis affair made me more cautious as to my future 
conduct. 

Hiding in ihe woods until night again came on, I 
continued my course eastward, and some time after 
midnight came upon a wide, well beaten road, one 
end of which led, at tliis place, a little to the left of 
the north-star, which I could plainly see. Here I de- 
liberated a long time, whether to take tliis road, or 
continue my course across the country by the stars • 
but at last resolved to follow the road, more from a 
desire to get out of the woods, than from a conviction 
that it would lead me in the right way. In the course 
of this night I saw but few plantations, but was so 
fortunate as to see a ground-hog crossing the road be- 
fore me. This animal I killed with my stick, and car- 
ried it until morning. 

At the approach of daylight, turning away to the 
right, I gained the top of an eminence, from which I 
could see through the woods for some distance around 



354 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



me. Here I kindled a fire and roasted my ground- 
hog, which afforded me a most grateful rei3ast, after 
my late fasting and severe toils. According to custom 
my meal being over, I betook myself to sleep, and did 
not awake until the afternoon ; when descending a 
few rods down the hill, and standing still to take a sur- 
vey of the w^oods around me, I saw, at the distance of 
half a mile from me, a man moving slowly about in 
the forest, and apparently watching, like myself, to see 
if any one was in view. Looking at this man atten- 
tively, I saw that he was a black, and that he did not 
move more than a few rods from the same spot where I 
first saw him. Curiosity impelled me to know more 
of the condition of my neighbor ; and descending quite 
to the foot of the hill, I perceived that he had a covert 
of boughs of trees, under which I saw him pass, and 
after some time return again from his retreat. Exam- 
ining the appearance of things carefully, I became 
satisfied that the stranger was, like myself, a negro 
slave, and I determined, without more ceremony, to 
go and speak to him, for I felt no fear of being be- 
trayed by one as badly off in the world as myself. 

When this man first saw me, at the distance of a 
Qundred yards from him, he manifested great agita- 
tion, and at once seemed disposed to run from me ; 
but when I called to him, and told him not to be 
ifraid, he became more assured, and waited for me to 



The Life of art American Slave. 355 

come close to him. I found liim to be a dark mulatto, 
small and slender in person, and lame in one leg. He 
had been well bred, and possessed good manners and 
fine address. I told him I was traveling, and pre- 
sumed this was not his dwelling place : upon which 
he informed me that he was a native of Kent county, 
in the State of Delaware, and had been brought up as 
a house-servant by his master, who, on his death-bed, 
had made his will, and directed him to be set free by 
his executors, at the age of twenty-five, and that in 
the meantime he would be hired out as a servant to 
some person who should treat him well. Soon after 
the death of his master, the executors hired him to a 
man in Wilmington, who employed him as a waiter in 
his house for three or four months, and then took him 
to a small town called Newport, and sold him to a 
man who took him immediately to Baltimore, where 
he was a^iain sold or transferred to another man, who 
brought him to South Carolina, and sold him to a 
cotton planter, with whom he had lived more than two 
years, and had run away three weeks before the time I 
saw him, with the intention of returning to Delaware. 
That being lame, and becoming fatigued by travel- 
ing, he had stopped here and made this shelter of 
boughs and bark of trees, under which he had remain- 
ed more than a week before I met him. He invited 
me to go into his camp as he termed it, where he had 



356 Fifty Years 'n Chains] or, 

an old skillet, more than a bushel of potatoes, and 
several fowls, all of Tvhich he said he had purloined 
from the plantations in the neighborhood. 

This encampment was in a level, open wood, and it 
appeared surprising to me that its occupant had not 
been discovered and conveyed back to his master be- 
fore this time. I told him that I thought he ran great 
risk of being taken up by remaining here, and advised 
him to break up his lodge immediately, and pursue his 
journey, traveling only in the night time. He then 
proposed to join me, and travel in company with me ; 
but this I declined, because of his lameness and great 
want of discretion, though I did not assign these rea- 
sons to him. 

I remained with this man two or three hours, and 
ate dinner of fowls dressed after his rude fashion. — 
Before leaving him, I pressed upon him the necessity 
of immediately quitting the position he then occupied^ 
but he said he intended to remain there a few days 
longer, unless I would take him with me. 

On quitting my new acquaintance, I thought it pru- 
dent to change my place of abode for the residue of 
this day, and removed along the top of the hill that I 
occupied at least two miles, and concealed myself in a 
thicket until night, when returning to the road I had 
left in the morning, and traveling hard all night, I 
came to a large stream ol water just at the break of 



The Life of an American Slave. 357 

day. As it was too late to pass the river with safety 
this moraing at this ford, I went half a mile higher, 
and swam across the stream in open daylight, at a 
place where both sides of the water were skirted with 
woods. I had several large potatoes that had been 
given to me by the man at his camp in the woods, and 
these constituted my rations for this day. 

At the rising and setting of the sun, I took the bear- 
ing of the road by tlie course of the stream that I had 
crossed, and found tliat I was traveling to the north- 
west, instead of the north or northeast, to one of which 
latter points I wished to direct my march. 

Having perceived the country in which I now was 
to be thickly i:)eopled, I remained in my resting place 
until late at night, when returning to the road and 
crossing it, I took once more to the woods, with the 
stars for my guides, and steered for the northeast. 

This was a fortunate night for me in all respects. 
The atmosphere was clear, the ground was higli, dry, 
and free from thickets. In the course of the niirht I 
passed several corn fields, with the corn still remain- 
ing in them, and passed a potato lot, in which large 
quantities of fine potatoes were dug out of the ground 
and lay in heaps covered with vines ; but my most 
signal good luck occurred just before day, when pass- 
ing under a dog-wood tree, and hearing a noise in the 
branches above me, I looked up and saw a large opos- 
sum amongst the benies that hung upon the boaghs. 



358 Fifty Yecvi s in Chains ; or, 

The game was quickly shaken down^ and turned out 
as fat as a well-fed pig, and as heavy as a full-grown 
raccoon. My attention was now turned to searching 
for a place in which I could secrete myself for the day, 
and dress my 2)rovisions in quietness. 

This day was clear and beautiful until the after- 
noon, when the air became damp, and the heavens 
were overhung wdth clouds. The night that followed 
was dark as pitch, compelling me to remain in my 
camp all night. . The next day brought with it a ter- 
rible storm of rain and wind, that continued w^ith but 
little intermission, more than twenty-four hours, and 
the sun was not again visible until the third day ; 
nor was there a clear night for more than a week. 
During all this time I lay in my camp, and subsisted 
upon the provisions that I had brought with me to 
this place. The corn and potatoes looked so tempting, 
when I saw them in the fields, that I had taken more 
than I should have consumed, had not the bad weather 
compelled me to remain at this spot ; but it was v/ell 
for me, for this time, that 1 had taken more than I 
could eat in one or two days. 

At the end of the cloudy weather, I felt much re- 
freshed and strengthened, and resumed my journey in 
high spirits, although I now began to feel the w^ant 
of shoes — those which I wore when I left my mistress 
having long since been w^orn out, and my boots w^'-e 



The Life of an American Slave. 359 

wrap strajos of hickory bark about my feet to keep the 
leather from separating, and falling to pieces. 

It was noWj by my computation, the month of 
November, and I was yet in the State of South Carolina. 
I began to consider with myself, whether I had gained 
or lost, by attempting to travel on the roads ; and, 
after revolving in my mind all the disasters that had 
befallen me, determined to abandon the roads alto- 
gether, for two reasons : the first of which was, that 
on the highways I was constantly liable to meet per- 
sons, or to be overtaken by them ; and a second, no 
less powerful, was, that as I did not know what roads 
to pursue, I was oftener traveling on the wrong route 
than on the right one. 

Setting my face once more for the north-star, I ad- 
vanced with a steady, though slow pace, for four or 
five nights, when I was again delayed by dark weather, 
and forced to remain in idleness nearly two weeks ; 
and when the weather again became clear, I was ar- 
rested on the second night by a broad and rapid river, 
that appeared so .formidable that I did not dare to 
attempt its passage until after examining it in day- 
light. On the succeeding night, however, I crossed it 
by summing — resting at some large rocks near the 
middle. After gaining the north side of this river, 
which I believed to be the Catawba, I considered my- 
self in Korth Carolina, and again steered towards the 
North. 



360 Fifty Years in CJiains ; or, 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The month of November is, in all years, a season 
of clouds and vai^ors ; but at the time of which I 
write, the good weather vanished early in the month, 
and all the clouds of the universe seemed to have col- 
lected in North Carolina. From the second night after 
crossing the Catawba, I did not see the north-star for 
the space of three weeks ; and during all this time, 
no progress was made in my journey ; although I sel- 
dom remained two da5's in the same place, but moved 
from one position to another, for the purpose of elu- 
ding the observation of the people of the country, 
whose attention might have been attracted by the con- 
tinual appearance of the smoke of my fires in one 
place. 

There had, as yet, been no hard frost, and the leaves 
were still on the oak trees, at the close of this cloudy 
weather ; but the northwest wind which dispelled the 
mist, also brought down nearly all the leaves of the 
forest, except those of the evergreen trees ; and the 



The Life of an American Slave. 



361 



riiglits now became clear, and the air keen witli frost. 
Hitherto the oak woods had afforded me the safest 
shelter, but now I was obliged to seek for groves of 
young pines to retire to at dawn. Heretofore I had 
found a plentiful subsistence in every corn-field and 
potato-lot, that fell in my way : but now began to 
find some of the fields in which corn had grown, des- 
titute of the corn, and containing nothing but the 
stalks. The potatoes had all been taken out of the 
lots where they grew, e.^cept in some few instances 
where they had been buried in the field ; and the 
means of subsistence became every day more difficult 
to be obtained ; but as I had fine weather, I made the 
best use of those hours in which I dared to travel, and 
was constantly moving from a short time after dark 
until daylight. The toil that I underwent for the 
first half of the month of December was e.Kcessive, and 
my sufferings for want of food were great. I was 
obliged to carry with me a stock of corn, sufficient to 
supply me for two or three days, for it frequently hap- 
pened that I met with none in the fields for a long 
time. In the course of this period I crossed innumer- 
able streams, the greater portion of which were of 
small size, but some were of considerable magnitude ; 
and in all of them the water had become almost as 
cold as ice. Sometimes I was fortunate enough to 
find boats or canoes tied at the side of the streams, and 

16 ' 



362 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



wlien this happened, I always made free use of that 
which no one else was using at the time ; but this did 
not occur often, and I believe, that in these two weeks 
I swam over nine rivers, or streams, so deep that I 
could not ford them. The number of creeks and rivu- 
lets through which I waded w^as far greater, but 1 
cannot now fix the number. 

In one of these fine nights, passing near the house 
of a planter, I saw several dry hides hanging on poles 
under a shed. One of these hides I appropriated to 
myself, for the purpose of converting it into moccasins, 
to su]3ply the place of my boots, which were totally 
worthless. By beating the dry hide with a stick it 
was made sufadently pliable to bear making it into 
moccasins ; of which I made for myself three pair, 
wearing one, and carrying the others on my back. 

One day as I lay in a pine thicket, several pigs 
which appeared to be wild, having no marks on their 
ears, came near me, and one of them approached so 
close without seeing me, that I knocked it down with a 
stone, and succeeded in killing it. This pig was very 
fat, and would have weighed thirty if not forty pounds. 
Feeling now greatly exhausted with the fatigues that 
I had lately undergone, and being in a very great 
forest, far removed from white inhabitants, I resolved 
to remain a few days in this place, to regale myself 
with the flesh of the pi^g, which I preserved by hang- 



Tlte Life of an American Slave. 363 



ing ib u]) in the shade, after cutting it into pieces. 
Fortune, so adverse to me heretofore, seemed to have 
been more kind to me at this time, for the very night 
succeeding the day on which I killed the pig, a storm 
of hail, snow, and sleet, came on, and continued fifteen 
or sixteen hours. The snow lay on the ground four 
inches in depth, and the whole country was covered 
with a crust almost hard enough to Lear a man. In 
this state of the weather I could not travel, and my 
stock of pork was invaluable to me. The pork was 
frozen where it hung on the branches of the trees, and 
was as well preserved as if it had been buried in snow ; 
but on the fourth day after the snow fell, the atmos- 
l)hero underwent a great change. The wind blew 
from the Soath, the snow melted away, the air be- 
came warm, and the sun shone with the brightness, 
and almost with the warmth of Spring. It was man- 
ifest that my pork, which was now soft and oily, would 
not long be in a sound state. If I remained here, my 
provisions would become putrid on my hands in a short 
time, and compel me to quit my residence to avoid the 
atmosphere of the place. 

I resolved to pursue my journey, and prepared my- 
self, by roasting before the fire, all my pork that was 
left, wrapping it up carefully in green pine leaves, and 
enveloping the whole in a sort of close basket, that I 
made of small boughs of trees. Equipping myself for 



364 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



my journey with my meat in my knaj^sack, I again 
took to the woods, with the stars for my guide, keep- 
ing the north-star over my left eye. 

The weather had now become exceedingly variable, 
and I was seldom able to travel more than half of the 
night. The fields were muddy, the low grounds in the 
woods were wet, and often covered with water, through 
which I was obliged to wade — the air was damp and 
cold by day, the nights were frosty, very often cover- 
ing the water with ice an inch in thickness. From 
the great degree of cold that prevailed, I inferred, 
either that I was pretty far North, or that I had ad- 
vanced too much to the left, and was approaching the 
mountain country. 

To satisfy myself as flir as possible of my situation, 
one fair day, when the sky was very clear, I climbed 
to the top of a pine tree that stood on the summit of 
a hill, and took a wide survey of the region around me. 
Eastward, I saw nothing but a vast continuation of 
plantations, intervened by forests ; on the South, the 
faint beams of a winter sun shed a soft lustre over the 
woods, which were dotted at remote distances, with 
the habitations of men, and the openings that they 
had made in the green champaign of the endless pine- 
groves, that nature had planted in the direction of the 
midday sun. On the North, at a great distance, I saw 
a tract of low and fiat country, which in my opinion 



Tht Life of an American Slave. 365 



was the vale of some great river, and beyond this, at 
the flxrthest stretch of vision, the eye was lost in the 
bine trauspar^nt vault, where i\x^ extremity of the arch 
of tlie world touches the abode of perpetual winter.- 
Turning westward, the view passed beyond tlie region 
of pme trees, which was followed afar off by nlked 
and leafless oaks, hickories, and walnuts ; and still 
beyond tliese rose high in air, elevated tracts of coun- 
try, clad in tlie white livery of snow, and bearing the 
impress of mid-winter. 

It was now apparent that I had borne too far west- 
ward, and was within a few days' travel of the moun- 
tams. Descending from my observations, I determined 
on the return of night to shape my course, for the 
future, nearly due East, until I should at least be out 
of the mountains. 

According to my calendar, it was the day before 
Christmas that I ascended the pine-tree ; and I be- 
lieve I was at that time in the north-western part of 
North Carolina, not flir from the banks of the Yadkin 
river. On the following night I traveled from dark 
until, as I supposed, about three or four o'clock in the 
morning, when I came to a road wliich led as I thought 
in an easterly direction. This road I traveled until 
daylight, and encamped near it in an old field, over- 
grown with young pines and holly-trees. 

This was Christmas-day, and I celebrated it by 



366 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 



breakfasting on fat pork, without salt, and substituted 
parched corn for bread. In the evening, the weather 
became cloudy and cold, and when night came it was 
so dark that I found difficulty in keeping in the road, 
at some points where it made short angles. Before 
midnight it began to snow, and at break of day the 
snow lay more than a foot deep. This compelled me 
to seek winter quarters ; and fortunately, at about 
half a mile from the road, I found, on the side of a 
steep hill, a shelving rock that formed a dry covert, 
with a southern prospect. 

Under this rock I took refuge, and kindling a fire of 
dry sticks, considered myself happy to possess a few 
pounds of my roasted pork, and more than half a gal- 
lon of corn that I carried in my pockets. The snow 
continued falling, until it was full two feet deep around 
me, and the danger of exposing myself to discovery by 
my tracks in the snow, compelled me to keep close to 
my hiding place until the third day, when I ventured 
to go back to the road, which I found broken by the 
passage of mr-iierous wagons, sleds and horses, and so 
much beaten that I could travel it with ease at night, 
the snow affording good light. 

Accordingly at night I again advanced on my way, 
which indeed I was obliged to do, for my corn was 
quite gone, and not more than a pound of my pork re- 
jviained to me. I traveled hard through the night, 



The Life of an American Slave. 367 

and after tlie morning star rose, came to a river, ^vllicll 
I think must have been the Yadkin. It appeared to 
be about two hundred yards ^vide, and the water ran 
with great rapidity in it. 

Waiting until the eastern horizon was tinged with 
the first rays of the morning light, 1 entered tlic river 
at the ford, and waded until tlie water was nearly 
three feet deep, when it felt as if it was cutting tho 
flesh from the bones of my limbs, and a large cake of 
ice floating downward, forced me off my balance, and 
I was near falling. My courage failed me, and I re- 
turned to the shore ; but found the i)ain that already 
tormented me greatly increased, when I was out of 
the water, and exposed to the action of the open air. 
ricturning to the river, I plunged into tlio current to 
relieve me from the pinching frost, that gnawed every 
])art of my skin that had become wet ; and rushing 
forward as fast as the weight of the water, that pressed 
me downward, would permit, was soon up to my chin 
in melted ice, wlien rising to the surface, I exerted my 
utmost strength and skill to gain the opposite shore 
by swimming in the shortest space of time. At every 
stroke of my arms and legs, they were cut and bruised 
by cakes of solid ice, or weighed down by floating 
masses of congealed snow. 

It is impossible for human life to be long sustained 
in such an element as that which encompassed me ; 



368 Fifty Years in Chains ; or^ 

and I had not been afloat five minutes before I felt 
chilled in all ni}^ members, and in less than the double 
of that time, my limbs felt numbed, and my hands 
became stiff, and almost powerless. 

When at the distance of thirty feet from the shore, 
my body was struck by a violent current, jiroduced by 
a projecting rock above me, and driven with resistless 
violence down the stream. Wholly unable to contend 
with the fury of the waves, and penetrated by the 
coldness of death, in my inmost vitals, T gave myself 
up for lost, and was commending my soul to God, 
whom I expected to be my immediate Judge, when I 
perceived the long hanging branch of a large tree, 
sweeping to and fro, and undulating backward and 
forward, as its extremities were washed by the surging 
current of the river, just below me. In a moment I 
was in contact with the tree, and making the effort of 
despair, seized one of its limbs. Bowed down by the 
weight of my body, the branch yielded to the power 
of the water, which rushing against my person, swept 
me round like the quadrant of a circle, and dashed 
me against the shore, where clinging to some roots 
that grew near the bank, the limb of the tree left me, 
and springing with elastic force to its former position, 
again dipped its slender branches in the mad stream. 

Crawling out of the water, and being once more on 
dry land, I found my circumstances little less desperate 



The Life of an American Slave. 



than when I was stin!Z£rlinir with the floatincc ice. — 
The morr.ing was frosty, and icicles hung in long pen- 
dant groups from the trees along the shore of the river 
and the hoar frost glistened in sparkling radiance upon 
the polished surface of the smooth snow, as it whiten- 
ed all the plain before mo, and spread its chill but 
beautiful coverin;]^ throuirh the woods. 

There were three alternatives befjrc me, one of 
which I knew must quickly be adopted. The one was 
to obtain a fire, by which I could dry and warm my 
stiffened limbs ; the second was to die, without the 
fire ; the third, to go to the first house, if I could 
reach one, and surrender myself as a runaway slave. 

Staggering, rather than walking forward, until I 
gained the cover of a wood, at a short distance from 
the river, I turned into it, and found that a field bor- 
dered the wood within less than twenty rods of the 
road. Vv'ithin a few yards of this fence I stopped, and 
taking out my fire apparatus, to my unspeakable joy 
found them dry and in perfect safety. With the aid 
of my punk, and some dry moss gathered from the 
fence, a small flame was obtained, to which dry leaves 
being added from the boughs of a white oak tree, that 
had fallen before the frost of the last autumn had 
commenced, I soon had fire of sufficient intensity tc 
consume dry wood, with which I supplied it, partly 

from the fence and partly from the branches of the 

16* 



370 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

fallen tree. Having raked away the snow from about 
the fire, by the time the sun was up, my frozen clothes 
were smoking before the coals — warming first one side 
and then the other — I felt the fflow of returnino; life 
once more invigorating my blood, and giving anima- 
tion to my frozen* limbs. 

The public road was near me on one hand, and an 
enclosed field was before me on the other, but in my 
present condition it was impossible for me to leave 
this place to-day, without danger of perishing in the 
woods, or of beincc arrested on the road. 

As evening came on, the air became much colder 
than it was in the forenoon, and after night the wind 
rose high and blew from the northwest, with intense 
keenness. My limbs were yet stiff from the effects of 
my morning adventure, and to complete my distress I 
was totally without provisions, having left a few ears 
of corn, that I had in my pocket, on the other side of 
the river. 

Leaving my fire in the night, and advancing into the 
field near me, I discovered a house at some distance, 
and as there was no light, or sign of fire about it, I 
determined to reconnoitre the premises, which turned 
out to be a small barn, standing alone, with no other 
inhabitants about it than a few cattle and a flock of 
sheej). After much trouble, I succeeded in entering 
the barn by starting the nails that confined one of the 



The Life of an American Slave. 371 



boards at the corner. Entering tlie house I round it 
nearly filled with corn, in the husks, and some from 
which the husks had been removed, was lyino- in a 
heap in one corner. 

Into these husks I crawled, and covering myself 
deeply under them, soon became warm, and fell into a 
profound sleep, from which I was awakened by the 
noise of people walking about in (he barn and talking 
of the cattle and sheep, which it appeared tlicy had 
come to feed, for they soon commenced working in the 
corn husks with which I was covered, and throwing 
them out to the cattle. I expected at every moment 
that they would uncover me ; but fortunately before 
they saw me, they ceased their operations, and went to 
work, some husking corn, and throwing the husks on 
the pile over me, while others were employed in load- 
ing the husked corn into carts, as I learned by their 
conversation, and hauling it away to the house. The 
people continued working in the barn all day, and in 
the evening gave more husks to the cattle and went 
home. 

Waiting two or three hours after my visiters were 
gone, I rose from the pile of husks, and filling my 
pockets with ears of corn, issued from the barn at the 
same place by which I had entered it, and returned to 
the woods, where I kindled a fire in a pine thicket, 
and parched ^Bore than half a gaJon of corn. Before 



372 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



day I returned to the barn, and again secreted myself 
in the corn husks. In the morning the people again 
returned to their work, and husked corn until the even- 
ing. At night I again repaired to the woods, and 
parched more corn. In this manner I passed more 
than a month, lying in the barn all day, and going to 
the woods at night ; but at length the corn was all 
husked, and I watched daily the progress that was 
made in feeding the cattle with the husks, knowing 
that I must quit my winter retreat before the husks 
were exhausted. Before the husked corn was removed 
from the barn, I had conveyed several bushels of the 
ears into the husks, near my bed, and concealed them 
for my winter's stock. 

Whilst I lay in this barn there were frequent and 
great changes of weather. The snow that covered the 
earth to the depth of two feet when I came here, did 
not remain more than ten days, and was succeeded by 
more than a week of warm rainy weather, which was 
in turn succeeded by several days of dry weather, with 
cold high winds from the North. The month of Feb- 
ruary was cloudy and damp, with several squalls of 
snow and frequent rains. About the first of March, 
the atmosphere became clear and dry, and the winds 
boisterous from the West. 

On the third of this month, having filled my little 
bag and all my pockets with parched corn, I quittej 



The Life of an American Slave. 373 



my winter quarters about ten o'clock at night, and 
again proceeded on my way to tlie North, leaving a 
large heap of corn husks still lying in the corner of 
the bam. 

On leaving this place, I again pursued the road that 
had led me to it for several nights ; crossing many 
small streams in my way, all of which I was able to 
pass without swimming, though several of them w^ro 
so deep that they wet me as high as my ann-iDits. — 
This road led nearly northeast, and was the only road 
that I had fallen in with, since I left Georgia, that 
had maintained that direction for so great a distance. 
Nothing extraordinary befell me until the twelfth of 
March, when venturing to turn out earlier than usual 
in the evening, and proceeding along the road, I found 
that my w^ay led me down a hill, along the side of 
w^hich the road had been cut into the earth ten or 
twelve feet in depth, having steep banks on each side, 
which were now so damp and slippery that it was im- 
possible for a man to ascend either the one or the other. 

Whilst in this narrow place, I heard the sound of 
horses proceeding up the hill to meet me. Stopping 
to listen, in a moment almost two horsemen were close 
before me, trotting up the road. To escape on either 
hand was impossible, and to retreat backwards would 
have exposed me to certain destruction. Only one 
means of salvation was left, and I embraced it. Near 



374 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

tlie j)lace where I stood, was a deep gully cut in one 
side of the road, by the water wdiich had run down 
here in time of rains. Into this gully I threw myself, 
and lying down close to the ground, the horsemen rode 
almost over me, and passed on. When they were gone 
I arose, and descending the hill, found a river before me. 

In crossing this stream I was compelled to swim at 
least two hundred yards ; and found the cold so op- 
pressive, after coming out of the water, that I w^as 
forced to stop at the first thick woods that I could find 
and make a fire to dry myself I did not move again 
until the next night ; and on the fourth night after 
this, came to a great river, which I suppose was the 
Eoanoke. I was obliged to swim this stream, and 
was carried a great way down by the rapidity of the 
current. It must have been more than an hour from 
the time that I entered the water, until I reached the 
opposite shore, and as the rivers were yet very cold, I 
suffered greatly at this place. 

Judging by the aspect of the country, I believed 
myself to be at this time in Yirgiuia ; and was now 
reduced to the utmost extremity for want of provisions. 
The corn that I had parched at the barn and brought 
with me, was nearly exhausted, and no more was to be 
obtained in the fields at this season of the year. For 
three or four days I allowed myself only my two hands 
full of parched corn per day ; and after this I traveled 



Tlic Life of an American Slave. 375 



three days without tasting food of any kind ; but be- 
ing nearly exhausted with hunger, I one night entered 
an old stack-yard^ hoping that I might fall in with 
pigs, or poultry of some kind. I found, instead of 
these, a stack of oats, which had not been threshed. 
From this stack I took as much oats in the sheaf as I 
could carry, and going on a few miles, stopped in a 
pine forest, made a large fire, and parched at least 
half a gallon of oats, after rubbing the grain from the 
straw. After the grain was parched, I again rubbed 
it in my hands, to separate it from the husks, and 
spent the night in feasting on i)arched oats. 

The weather was now becoming quite warm, though 
the water was cold in the rivers ; and I perceived the 
farmers had everywhere ploughed their fields, prepa- 
ratory to planting corn. Every night I saw people 
burning brush in the new grounds that they were 
clearing of the wood and brush ; and when the day 
came, in the morning after I obtained the oats, I f)er- 
ceived peo2)le i)lanting corn in a field about half a 
mile from my fire. According to my computation of 
time, it was on the night of the last day of March 
that I obtained the oats ; and the appearance of the 
country satisfied me that I had not lost many days in 
my reckoning. 

I lay in this pine-wood two days, for the purpose 
of recruiting my strength, after my long fast ; and 



376 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

when I again resumed my journey, determined to 
seek some large road leading towards the North, and 
follow it in future ; the one that I had been pursuing 
of late, not appearing to be a principal high- way of 
the country. For this purpose, striking off across the 
fields, in an easterly direction, I traveled a few hours, 
and was fortunate enough to come to a great road, 
which was manifestly much traveled, leading towards 
the northeast. 

My bag was now replenished with more than a gal- 
lon of parched oats, and I had yet one pair of mocca- 
sins made of raw hide ; but my shirt was totally gone, 
and my last pair of trowsers was now in actual service. 
A tolerable waistcoat still remained to me, and my 
great coat, though full of honorable scars, was yet 
capable of much service. 

Having resolved to pursue the road I was now in, it 
was necessary again to resort to the utmost degree of 
caution to prevent surprise. Traveling only after it 
vras dark, and taking care to stop before the appear- 
ance of day, my progress was not rapid, but my safety 
was preserved. 

The acquisition of food had now become difiScult, 
and when my oats began to fail, I resorted to the dan- 
gerous expedient of attacking the corn-crib of a plan- 
ter that was near the road. The house was built of 
round logs, md was covered with boards. One of these 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 377 



boards I succeeded in removing, on the side of the crib 
opposite from the dwelling, and by thrusting my arm 
downwards, was able to reach the corn— of which I 
took as much as filled my bag, the pockets of my great 
coat, and a large handkerchief that I had preserved 
through all the vicissitudes of my journey. This op- 
portune supply of corn furnished me with food more 
than a week, and before it was consumed I reached the 
Appomattox river, which I crossed in a canoe that I 
found tied at the shore, a few miles above the town of 
Petersburg. Having approached Petersburg in the 
night, I was afraid to attempt to pass through it, lest 
the patrol should fall in with me ; and turning to the 
left through the country, reached the river, and cross- 
ed in safety. 

The great road leading to Richmond is so distin- 
guishingly marked above the other ways in this part 
of Virginia, that there was no difficulty in following 
it, and on the third night after passing Petersburg, I 
obtained a sight of the capitol of Virginia. It was 
only a little after midnight, when the city presented 
itself to my sight ; but here, as well as at Petersburg, 
I was afraid to attempt to go through the town, under 
cover of the darkness, because of the patrol. Turning, 
therefore, back into a forest, about two miles from the 
small town on the south-side of the rirer, I lay there 
until after twelve o'clock in tlie day, when loosening 



378 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



the package from my back, and taking it in my hand 
in the form of a bundle, I advanced into the village, 
as if I had only come from some plantation in the 
neighborhood. 

This was on Sunday, I believe, though according to 
my computation it was Monday ; but it must have 
been Sunday, for the village was quiet, and in passing 
it I only saw two or three persons, whom I passed as 
if I had not seen them. No one spoke to me, and I 
gained the bridge in safety, and crossed it without 
attracting the least attention. 

Entering the city of Kichmond, I kept along the 
principal street, walking at a slow pace, and turning 
my head from side to side, as if much attracted by the 
objects around me. Few persons were in the street, 
and I was careful to appear more attentive to the 
houses than to the people. At the upper end of the 
city I saw a great crowd of ladies and gentlemen, who 
were, I believe, returning from church. Whilst these 
people were passing me, I stood in the street, on the 
outside of the foot pavement, with my face turned to 
the opposite side of the street. They all went by Avith- 
out taking any notice of me ; and when they were gone, 
I ao-ain resumed mv leisure walk along the pavement, 
and reached the utmost limit of the town without 
being accosted by any one. As soon as I was clear of 
the city I quickened my pace, assumed the air of a 



The Life of cm Ameriean Slave. 379 

man in great liasfp, sometimes actually ran, and in 
less than an hour was safely lodged in the thickest 
part of the AAoods that lay on the North of Eichmond, 
and full four miles from the river. This was the bold- 
est exploit that I had performed since leaving my 
mistress, except the visit I jmid to the gentleman in 
Georgia. 

My corn was now failing, hut as I had once entered 
a crib secretly, I felt but little apprehension on account 
of future supplies. After this time I never wanted 
corn, and did not again suifer by hunger, until I reached 
the place of my nativity. 

After leaving Richmond, I again kcjjt along the 
great road by which I had traveled on my way South, 
taking great care not to expose my person unnecessarily. 
For several nights I saw no white people on the way, 
"but was often met by black ones, whom I avoided by 
turning out of the road ; but one moonlight night, 
five or six daj's after I left Richmond, a man stepped 
out of the woods almost at my side, and accosting me 
in a familiar manner, asked me which way I was travel- 
ing, how long I had been on the road, and made many 
inquiries concerning the course of my late journey. 
This man was a mulatto, and carried a heavy cane, or 
rather club, in his hand. I did not like his appear- 
ance, and the idea of a familiar conversation with any 
one seemed to terrify me. I determined to watch my 



380 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

comjmnion closely, and he ajDpeared equally intent on 
observing me ; but at tlie same time that he talked 
with me, he was constantly drawing closer to and fol- 
lowing behind me. This conduct increased my suspi- 
cion, and I began to wish to get rid of him, but could 
not at the moment imagine how I should effect my 
purpose. To avoid him, I crossed the road several 
times ; but still he followed me closely. The moon, 
which shone brightly upon our backs, cast his shadow 
far before me, and enabled me to perceive his motions 
with the utmost accuracy, without turning my head 
towards him. He carried his club under his left arm, 
and at length raised his right hand gently, took the 
stick by the end, and drawing it slowly over his head, 
was in the very act of striking a blow at me, when^ 
springing backward, and raising my own staff at the 
same moment, I brought him to the ground by a stroke 
on his forehead ; and when I had him down, beat him 
over the back and sides with my weapon, until he 
roared for mercy, and begged me not to kill him. I 
left him in no condition to pursue me, and hastened 
on my way, resolved to get as far from him before day 
as my legs would carry me. 

This man was undoubtedly one of those wretches 
who are employed by white men to kidnap and betray 
such unfortunate people of color as may chance to fall 
into their hands but for once the deceiver was de- 



The Life of an American Skm 



381 



ccivoJ, and he who intended to make prey of me, had 
well nigh fallen a sacrifice himself 

The same night I crossed the Pammuuky river, near 
the village of Hanover by swimming, and secreted my- 
self before day in a dense cedar thicket The next 
night, after I had traveled several miles, in ascendin-r 
a lull I saw the head of a man rise on the opposite 
eule, without having heard any noise. I instantly ran 
mto the woods, and concealed myself behind a large 
tree. The traveler was on horseback, and the read 
bemg sandy, and his horse moving only at a walk I 
had not heard his approach until I saw him. He also 
saw me ; for when ho came opposite the place where 
I stood, he stopped his horse in the road, and desired 
me to tell him how far it was to some place, the name 
of which I have forgotten. As I made no answer, he 
again repeated the inquiry ; and then said, I need not 
bo afraid to speak, as he did not wish to hurt me • but 
no answer being given him, he at last said I might as 
well speak, and rode on. '^ 

Before day I reached the Matapony river, and cross- 
ed It by wading ; but knowing that I was not flirfrom 
Maryland, I fell into a great indiscretion, and forgot 
the wariness and caution that had enabled me to over- 
come obstacles apparently insurmountable. Ansious 
to get forward, I neglected to conceal myself before 
day ; buf trav-led until daybreak before I sought a 



382 Fifty Years in Chains ; or^ 



place of concealment^ and unfortunatelvj when I looked 
for a hiding j)l^ce, none was at hand. This compelled 
me to keep on the road, until gray twilight, for the 
j)nrpose of reaching a wood that was in view before 
me ; but to gain this wood I was obliged to pass a 
house that stood at the road side, and when only about 
fifty yards beyond the house, a white man o^Dened the 
door, and seeing me in the road, called to me to stop. 
As this order was not obeyed, he set his dog upon me. 
The dog was quickly vanquished by my stick, and set- 
ting off to run at full speed, I at the same moment 
heard the report of a gun, and received its contents in 
my legs, chiefly about, and in my hams. I fell on the 
road, and was soon surrounded by several persons, who 
it appeared were a party of patrollers, who had gath- 
ered together in this house. They ordered me to cross 
my hands, which order not being immediately obeyed, 
they beat me with sticks and stones until I was almost 
senseless, and entirely unable to make resistance. — 
They then bound me with cords, and dragged me by 
the feet back to the house, and threw me into the 
kitchen, like a dead dog. One of my eyes was almost 
beaten out, and the blood was running from my mouth, 
nose and ears ; but in this condition they refused to 
wash the blood from my face, or even to give me a 
drink of water. 

]n a short time a ju'-tice of \\iQ peace arrived, and 



The Life of an American Slave. 383 



when he looked at me, ordered me to he uiihound, and 
to have water to wasli myself, and also some hread to 
cat. This man's heart appeared not to he altogether 
void of sensihility, for he reprimanded in harsh terms 
those who had heaten me ; told them that their con- 
duct was hrutal, and that it would have hecn more 
humane to kill me outright, than to hruise and man- 
gle me in the manner they had done. 

Ho then interrogated me as to my name, place of 
ahode, and place of destination, and afterwards de- 
manded the name of my master. To all these inqui- 
ries I made no reply, except that I was going to Mary- 
land, where I lived. The justice told me it was his 
duty under the law to send me to jail ; and I was im- 
mediately put into a cart, and carried to a small vil- 
lage called Bowling Green, which I reached before 
ten o'clock. 

There I was locked up in the jail, and a doctor 
came to examine my legs, and extract the shot from 
my wounds. In the course of the operation he took 
out thirty-four Luck shot, and after dressing my legs 
left me to my own reflections. Xo fever followed in 
the train of my disasters, which I attributed to the 
reduced state of my blood, by long fasting, and the 
fatigues I had undergone. 

In th3 afternoon, the jailer came to see me, and 
broughl my daily allowance of provisions, and a jug of 



384 Fifty Years la Chains ; or, 

water. The provisions consisted of more than a pound 
of corn-bread and some boiled bacon. As my appetite 
was good, I immediately devoured more than two- 
1 birds of this food, but reserved the rest for sui:)per. 

For several days I was not able to stand, and in this 
period foimd great difficulty in performing the ordi- 
nary offices of life for myself, no one coming to give 
me any aid ; but I did not suffer for want of food, the 
daily allowance of the jailer being quite sufficient to 
appease the cravings of hunger. After I grew better, 
and was able to walk in the jail, the jailer frequently 
called to see me, and endeavored to prevail on me to 
tell where 1 came from ; but in this undertaking he 
was no more successful than the justice had been in 
the same business. 

I remained in the jail more than a month, and in 
this time became quite fat and strong, but saw no way 
by which I could escape. The jail was of brick, the 
floors were of solid oak boards, and the door, of the 
same material, was secured by iron bolts, let into its 
posts, and connected together by a strong band of 
iron, reaching from the one to the other. 

Every thing appeared sound and strong, and to add 
to my security, my feet were chained together, from 
the time my wounds were healed. This chain I ac- 
quired the knowledge of removing from my feet, by 



The Life of an American Slave. 385 



working out of its socket a small imnjiin that secured 
the bolt that held tlie chain round one of my leo-s. 

The jailer came to see me witli great regularity, 
every morning and evening, but remained only a few 
minutes when he came, leaving me entirely »Ione at 
all other times. 

A\ hvn I had been in prison tliirty-nine days, and 
had quite recovered from the wounds tliat I had re- 
ceived, the jailer was late in coming to me with my 
breakfast, and going to the door I began to beat 
against it with my fist, for the purpose of making a 
noise. After beating some time against tlie door I 
happened, by mere accident, to strike my fist against 
one of the posts, which, to my surprise, I discovered by 
its sound, to be a mere hollow shell, encrusted with a 
thin coat of sound timber, and as I struck it, the rotten 
wood crumbled to pieces within. On a more careful 
examination of this post, I became satisfied that I 
could easily split it to pieces, by the aid of the iron 
bolt that confined my feet. The jailer came with my 
breakiast, and reprimanded me for making a noise. 
This fay appeared as long to me, as a week had done 
heretofore ; but riight came at length, and as soon as 
the room in which I was confined, had become quite 
dark, I disentangled myself from the irons with which 
I was bound, and with the aid of the long bolt, easily 

wrenched from its place the large sfaple that held one 

IT 



386 Fifty Yea~s in Chains ; or, 

end of the bar, that lay across the door. The hasps 
that held the lock in its place, were drawn away almost 
without force, and the door swung open of its own 
wei2:ht. 

I now walked out into the jail-yard, and found that 
all was quiet, and that only a few lights were burning 
in the village windows. At first I walked slowly along 
the road, but soon quickened my pace, and ran along 
the high- way, until I was more than a mile from the 
jail, then taking to the woods, I traveled all night, in 
a northern direr 'ion. At the approach of day I con- 
cealed myself in a cedar thicket, where I lay until the 
next evening, without any thing to eat. 

On the second night after my escape, I crossed the 
Potomac, at Hoe's ferry, in a small boat that I found 
tied at the side of the ferry flat ; and on the night 
following crossed the Patuxent, in a canoe, which I 
found chained at the shore. 

About one o'clock in the morning, I came to the 
door of my wife's cabin, and stood there, I believe, 
more than five minutes, before I could summon suffi- 
cient fortitude to knock. I at length rapped lightly on 
the door, and was immediately asked, in the well- 
known voice of my wife, " Who is there ?" — I replied 
" Charles/ She then came to the door, and opening 
it slowly, said, " Who is this that speaks so much like 
my husband ?" I then rushed into the cabin and made 



The Life of an American Slave. 387 

myself known to her, but it was some time before I 
could convince her, that I was really her husband, re- 
turned from Georgia. The children were then called 
up, but they had forgotten me. 

When I attempted to take them in my arms, they 
fled from me, and took refuge under the bed of their 
mother. My eldest boy, who was four years old when 
I was carried away, still retained some recollections of 
once having had a father, but could not believe that 
I was that father. My wife, who at first was over- 
come by astonishment at seeing me ag.' i in her cabin, 
and was incapable of giving credit to the fidelity of 
her own vision, after I had been in the house a few 
minutes, seemed to awake from a dream ; and gath- 
ering all three of her children in her arms, thrust 
them into my lap, as I sat in the corner, clapped her 
hands, laughed, and cried by turns ; and in her ecstasy 
forgot to give me any supper, until I at length told 
her that I was hungry. Before I entered the house 
I felt as if I could eat anything in the shape of food ; 
but now that I attempted to eat, my appetite had fled, 
and I sat up all night with my wife and children. 

When on my journey I thought of nothing but 
getting home, and never reflected, that when at home, 
I might still be in danger ; but now that my toils 
were ended, I began to consider with myself how I 
could appear in safety in Calvert county, where every- 



388 Fifty Years in Chains : or, 



body must know that I was a runaway slave. With 
my heart thrillmg with joy, when I looked upon my 
wife and children, who had not hoped ever to behold 
me again ; yet fearful of the coming of daylight, which 
must expose me to be arrested as a fugitive slave, I 
passed the night between the happiness of the present 
and the dread of the future. In all the toils, dangers, 
and sufferings of my long journey, my courage had 
never forsaken me. The hope of again seeing my wife 
and little ones, had borne me triumphantly through 
perils, that even now I reflect upon as upon some ex- 
travagant dream ; but when I found myself at rest 
under the roof of my wife, the object of my labors at- 
tained, and no motive to arouse my energies, or give 
them the least impulse, that firmness of resolution 
which had so long sustained me, suddenly vanished 
from my bosom ; and I passed the night, with my 
children around me, oppressed by a melancholy fore- 
boding of my future destiny. The idea that I was 
utterly unable to afford protection and safeguard to 
my own family, and was myself even more helpless 
than they, tormented my bosom with alternate throbs 
of affection and fear, until the dawn broke in the East, 
and summoned me to decide upon my future conduct. 
In the morning I went to the great house and showed 
myself to my master and mistress. They gave me 
a' good breakfast, r^nd advised m^ at first to conceal 



Tlie Life of an Amcr'can Slave. 389 



myself, but afterwards to work in the neighborhood 
for wa-cs. For eight years, I lived in this region of 
country and experienced a variety of fortune. At last 
I had saved near $400, and bought near Baltimore 
twelve acres of land, a yoke of oxen, and two cows, and 
attended the Baltimore market. I had the great mis- 
fortune to lose my wife. I married in two years, and 
of my second wife had four children. Ten years of 
happiness and comparative ease I enjoyed on my little 
farm, and I had settled down into contentment, little 
fearing any more trouble. But a sad fate was before 
me. 



390 Fifty Years in C]iai7is ; or, 



CHAPTER XIX. 

In the month of June, 18—, as I was ploughing in 
my lot, three gentlemen rode up to my fence, and 
alighting from their horses, all came over the fence 
and approached me, when one of them told me he 
was the sheriff, and had a writ in his pocket, which 
commanded him to take me to Baltimore. I was not 
conscious of having done any thing injurious to any 
one ; but yet felt a distrust of these men, who were 
all strangers, to me. I told them I would go with 
them, if they would permit me to turn my oxen loose 
from the plough ; but it was my intention to seek an 
opportunity of escaping to the house of a gentleman, 
who lived about a mile from me. This purpose I was 
not able to effect, for whilst I was taking the yoke 
from the oxen, one of the gentlemen came behind me, 
and knocked me down with a heavy whip, that he 
carried in his hand. 

When I recovered from the stunning effects of this 
blow, I found myself bound with my hands behind 



»:, 



The Life of an American Slave. 391 



me, and strong cords closely wrapped about my arms. 
In this condition I was forced to set out immediately, 
for Baltimore, without speaking to my wife, or even 
entering my door. I expected that, on arriving at 
Baltimore, I should be taken before a judge for the 
])urpose of being tried, but in this I was deceived. 
They led me to the city jail, and there shut me up, 
with several other black people, both men and women, 
who told me that they had lately been jnirchased by 
a trader from Georgia. 

I now saw the extent of my misfortune, but could 
not learn who the persons were, who had seized me. 
In the evening, however, one of the gentlemen, who 
had brought me from home, came into the jail with 
the jailer, and asked me if I knew him. On being 
answered in the negative, he told me that he knew me 
very well ; and asked me if I did not recollect the time 
when he and his brother had whipped me, before my 
master's door, in Georgia. 

I now recognized the features of the younger of the 
two brothers of my mistress ; but this man was so 
changed in his appearance, from the time when I had 
last seen him, that if he had not declared himself, I 
should never have known him. When I left Georgia, 
he was not more than twenty-one or two years of age, 
and had black, bashy hair. His hair was now thin 
and gray, and all his features were changed. 



392 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

After lying in jail a little more tlian two weeks, 
strongly ironed, my fellow prisoners and I were one 
day chained together, handcuffed in pairs, and in this 
way driven about ten miles out of Baltimore, where 
we remained all night. 

On the evening of the second day, we halted at 
Bladensburg. 

On the next morning, we marched through Wash- 
ington, and as we passed in front of the President's 
house, I saw an old gentleman walking in the grounds, 
near the gate. This man I was told was the President 
of the United States. 

Within four weeks after we left Washington, I was 
in Milledgeville in Georgia, near which the man who 
had kidnapped me resided. He took me home with 
him, and set me to work on his plantation ; but I had 
now enjoyed liberty too long to submit quietly to the 
endurance of slavery. I had no sooner come here, than 
I began to devise ways of escaping again from the 
hands of my tyrants, and of making my way to the 
northern States. 

The month of August was now approaching, which 
is a favorable season of the -year to travel, on account 
of the abundance of food that is to be found in the 
corn-fields and orchards ; but I remembered the dread- 
ful sufferings that I had endured in my former journey 
from the South, and determined, if possible, to devise 



Tlie Lijt of an American Slave. 393 



some scheme of getting away, that would not subject 
me to such hardships. 

After several weeks of consideration, I resolved to 
run away, go to some of the seaports, and endeavor to 
get a passage on board a vessel, bound to a northern 
city. With this view, I assumed the appearance of 
resignation and composure, under the new aspect of 
my fortune ; and even went so far as to tell my now 
master that I lived more comfortably with him, in his 
cotton fields, tlian I had formerly done_, on my own 
small farm in Maryland ; tliough I believe my mastei 
did me the justice to give no credit to my assertions 
on this subject. 

From the moment I discovered in Maryland, that 
I had fallen into the hands of the brother of my for- 
mer mistress, I gave up all hope of contesting his right 
to arrest me, with success, at law, as I supposed he 
had come with authority to reclaim me as the property 
of his sister ; but after I had returned to Georgia, 
and had been at work some weeks on the plantation 
of my new master, I learned that he now claimed me 
as his own slave, and that he had reported he had 
purchased me in Baltimore. It was now clear to me 
that this man, having by some means learned the 
place of my residence, in Maryland, had kidnapped 
and now held me as his slave, without the color of 
legal right ; but complaint on my part was useless, 
and resistance vain. 



394 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

I was again reduced to the condition of a common 
field slave, on a cotton jolantation in Georgia, and 
compelled to subsist on the very scanty and coarse 
food allowed to the southern slave. I had been absent 
from Georgia almost twenty years, and in that period 
great changes had doubtlessly taken ]3lace in the face 
of the country, as well as in the condition of human 
society. 

I had never been in Milledgeville until I was brought 
there by the man who had kidnapped me inMaryland, 
and I was now a slave among entire strangers, and had 
no friend to give me the consolation of kind words, 
such as I had formerly received from my master in 
Morgan county. The plantation on which I "was now 
a slave, had formerly belonged to the father of my mis- 
tress ; and some of my fellow slaves had been well 
acquainted with her in her youth. From these j^eople 
I learned, that after the death of my master, and my 
flight from Georgia, my mistress had become the wife 
of a second husband, who had removed with her to 
the State of Louisiana more than fifteen years ago. 

After ascertaining these facts, which proved beyond 
all doubt that my present master had no right what- 
soever to me, in either law or justice, I determined 
that before encountering the dangers and sufierings 
that must necessarily attend my second flight from 
Georgia, I would attempt to proclaim the pro- 



The Life of an American Slave. 395 

Section of the laws of the country, and try to get my- 
Belf discharged from the unjust slavery in which I was 
now held. For this purpose, I went to Milledgeville, 
one Sunday, and inquired for a lawyer of a black man 
whom I met in the street. This person told me that 
his master was a lawyer, and went with me to his house. 

The lawyer, after talking to me some time, told me 
that my master was his client, and that he therefore 
could not undertake my cause ; but referred me to a 
young gentleman, who he said would do my business 
for me. Accordingly to this young man I went, and 
after relating my whole story to him, he told me that 
he believed he could not do any thing for me, as I had 
no witnesses to prove my freedom. 

I rejoined, that it seemed hard that I must be com- 
j)elled to prove myself a freeman : and that it would 
appear more consonant to reason that my master should 
prove me to be a slave. He, however, assured me that 
this was not the law of Georgia, where every man of 
color was presumed to be a slave until he could prove 
that he was free. He then told me that if I expected 
him to talk to me, I must give him a fee ; whereupon 
I gave him all the money I had been able to procure, 
since my arrival in the country, which was two dollars 
and seventy-five cents. 

When I offered him this money, the lawyer tossed 
his head, and ^^aid such a trifle was not worth accept- 



396 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

ing ; but nevertheless he took it, and then asked me 
if I could get some more money before the next Sun- 
day. That if I could get another dollar, he would 
issue a writ and have me brought before the court ; 
but if he succeeded in getting me set free, I must 
engage to serve him a year. To these conditions I 
agreed, and signed a pajier which the lawyer wrote, 
and which was signed by two j^crsons as witnesses. 

The brother of my pretended master was yet living 
in this neighborhood, and the lawyer advised me to 
have him brought forward, as a witness, to prove that 
1 was not the slave of my present pretended owner. 

On the Wednesday following my visit to Milledge- 
ville, the sheriff came to my master's plantation, and 
took me from the field to the house, telling me as I 
walked beside him that he had a writ which command- 
ed him to take me to Milledgeville. Instead, however, 
of obeying the command of his writ, when we arrived 
at the house ho took a bond of my master that he 
would produce me at the court-house on the next day, 
Friday, and then rode away, leaving me at the mercy 
of my kidnapper. 

Since I had been on this plantation, I had nevei 
been whipped, although all the other slaves, of whom 
there were more than fifty, were frequently flogged 
without any apparent cause. I had all along attri- 
buted my exemption from the lash to the fears of my 



The Life of an American Slave. 397 



master. lie knew I had formerly run away from his 
Bister, on account of her cruelty, and his own savage 
conduct to me ; and I believed that he was still appre- 
hensive that a repetition of his former barbarity might 
produce the same effect that it had done twenty years 
before. 

His evil passions were like fire covered with ashes, 
concealed, not extinguished. He now found that I was 
determined to try to regain my hberty at all events, 
and the sheriff was no sooner gone than the overseer 
was sent for, to come from the field, and I was tied up 
and whipped, with the long lashed negro whip, until 
I fainted, and was carried in a state of insensibility to 
my lodgings in the quarter. It was night when I re- 
covered my understanding sufficiently to be aware of 
my true situation. I now found that my wounds had 
been oiled, and that I was wrapped in a piece of clean 
linen cloth ; but for several days I was unable to leave 
my bed. When Friday came, I was not taken to Mil- 
ledgeville, and afterwards learned that my master re- 
ported to the court that I had been taken ill, and was 
not able to leave the house. The judge asked no 
questions as to the cause of my illness. 

At the end of two weeks I was taken to Milledge- 
ville, and carried before a judge, who first asked a few 
questions of my master, as to the length of time that 
he had owned me, and the place where he had pur • 



398 Fifty Years in Chains ; or^ 

chased me. He stated in my presence that he had 
purchased me, with several others, at public auction, 
in the city of Baltimore, and had paid five hundred 
and ten dollars for me. I was not permitted to speak 
to the court, much less to contradict this falsehood in 
the manner it deserved. 

The brother of my master was then called as a wit- 
ness by my lawyer, but the witness refused to be sworn 
or examined, on account of his interest in me, as his 
slave. In support of his refusal, he produced a bill of 
sale from my master to himself, for an equal, undivi- 
ded half part of the slave . This bill of sale was 

dated several weeks previous to the time of trial, and 
gave rise to an argument between the opposing lawyers 
that continued until the court adjourned in the evening. 

On the next morning I was again brought into court, 
and the judge now delivered his opinion, which was 
that the witness could not be compelled to give evi- 
dence in a cause to which he was really, though not 
nominally, a party. 

The court then proceeded to give judgment in the 
cause now before it, and declared that the law was v/ell 
settled in Georgia that every negro was presumed to 
be a slave, until he proved his freedom by the clearest 
evidence. That where a negro was found in the cus- 
tody or keeping of a white man, the law declared that 
white man to be his master, without any evidence on 



The Lift of an American Slave. 



399 



the subject. Bat the case before the court was ex- 
ceedingly plain and free from all donbt or difficulty 
Here the master has brought this slave into the State 
■A Georgia, as his property, has held him as a slave 
ever since, and still holds him as a slave. The title 
of the master in this case is the best title that a man 
can have to any property ; and the order of the court 

IS, that the slave be returned to the custody 

ri ins master. 

I was immediately ordered to return home, and from 
tins time until I left the plantation my life was a con- 
tmual torment to me. The overseer often came up to 
me in the field, and gave me several lashes with bis 
long whip over my naked back, tlirough mere wanton- 
ness ; and I was often compelled, after I had done my 
day's work in the field, to cut wood, or perform some 
other labor at the house, until long after dark. My 
sufferings were too great to be borne long by any human 
creature ; and to a man who had once tasted the sweets 
of liberty, they were doubly tormentincr. 

There was nothing in the form of danger that could 
intimidate me, if the road on which I had to encounter 
It led me to freedom. That season of the year most 
favorable to my escape from bondage, had at length 
arrived The corn in the fields was so far grown as to 
be fit for roasting; the peaches were beginnino- to 
npen, and the swee, potatoes were large enough to be 



400 Fifty Years in OJiains ; or, 

eaten ; but notwithstanding all this, the difficulties 
that surrounded me were greater than can easily he 
imagined by any one who has never been a slave in 
the low^er country of Georgia. 

In the first place I was almost naked, having no 
other clothes than a ragged shirt of tow cloth, and a 
pair of old trowsers of the same material, with an old 
woollen jacket that I had brought with me from home. 
In addition to this, I was closely watched every even- 
ing, until I had finished the labor assigned me, and 
then I was locked up in a small cabin by myself for 
the night. 

This cabin was really a prison, and had been built 
for the purpose of confining such of the slaves of this 
estate as were tried in the evening, and sentenced to 
be whipped in the morning. It was built of strong 
oak logs, hewn square, and dovetailed together at the 
corners. It had no window in it ; but as the logs did 
not fit very close together, there was never any want 
of air in this jail, in which I had been locked u^) every 
night since my trial before the court. 

On Sundays I was permitted to go to work in the 
fields, with the other people who worked on that day, 
if I chose so to do ; but at this time I was jDut under 
the charge of an old African negro, who was instruct- 
ed to give immediate information if I attempted to 
leave the field. To escape on Sunday was impossible, 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 401 



and there seemed to be no hope of getting out of my 
sleeping room, the floor of which was mcade of strono- 
pme plank. 

Fortune at length did for me that which I had not 
been able to accomplish, by the greatest efforts, for 
myself The lock that was on the door of my niglitly 
prison was a large stock lock, and had been clumsily 
fitted on the door, so that the end of the lock pressed 
against the door-case, and made it difficult to shut the 
door even in dry weather. When the weather was 
damp, and the wood was swollen with moisture, it was 
not easy to close the door at all. 

Late in the month of September the weather became 
cloudy, and much rain fell. The clouds continued to 
obscure the heavens for four or five days. One even- 
ing, when I was ordered to my house as it was called, 
the overseer followed me without a light, although it 
was very dark. When I was in the house, he pushed 
the door after me with all his strength. The violence 
of the efi'ort caused the door to pass within the case at 
the top, for one or two feet, and this held it so flist 
that he could not again pull it open. 

Supposing, in the extreme darkness, that the door 
was shut, he turned the key ; and the bolt of the lock 
passing on the outside of the stajole intended to receive 
it, completely deceived him. He then withdrew the 
key, and went away. Soon after he was gone, I went 



402 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 



to the door, and feeling with my hands, ascertained 
that it was not shut. An opportunity now presented 
itself for me to escape from my prison-house, with a 
prospect of being able to he so far from my master's 
residence before morning, that none could soon over- 
take me, even should the course of my flight be ascer- 
tained. Waiting quietly, until every one about the 
quarter had ceased to be heard, I applied one of my 
feet to the door, and giving it a strong push, forced 
it open. 

The world was now all before me, but the darkness 
was so profound, as to obscure from my vision the 
largest objects, even a house, at the distance of a few 
yards. But dark as it was, necessity compelled me to 
leave the plantation without delay, and knowing only 
the great road that led to Milledgeville, amongst the 
various roads of this country, I set off at a brisk walk 
on this public highway, assured that no one could 
apprehend me in so dark a night. 

It was only about seven miles to Milledgeville, and 
when I reached that town several lights were burning 
in the windows of the houses ; but keeping on directly 
through the village, I neither saw nor heard any per- 
son in it, and after gaining the open country, my first 
care was to find some secure place where shelter could 
be found for the next day ; but no appearance of thick 
woods was to be seen for several miles, and two or 



The Life of a7i American Slave. 403 



three hours must have elapsed before a forest of suffi- 
cient magnitude was found to answer my jDurjooses. 

It was perhaps three o'clock in the morning, when 
I took refuge in a thick and dismal swamp that lay 
on the right hand of the road, intending to remain 
here until daylight, and then look out for a secret 
place to conceal myself in, during the day. Hitherto 
although the night was so extremely dark, it had not 
rained any, but soon after my halt in the swamp the 
rain began co fall in floods, rather than in showers, 
which made me as wet as if I had swam a river. 

Daylight at length appeared, but brought with it 
very little mitigation of my sufferings ; for the swamp, 
in which my hiding-place was, lay in the midst of a 
well-peopled country, and was surrounded on all sides 
by cotton and corn fields, so close to me that the open 
spaces of the cleared land could be seen from my posi- 
tion. It was dangerous to move, lest some one should 
see me, and painful to remain without food when hun- 
ger was consuming me. 

My resting place in the swamp was within view of 
the road ; and, soon after sunrise, although it con- 
tinued to rain fast, numerous horsemen wore seen pass- 
ing along the road by the way that had led me to the 
swamp. There was little doubt on my mind that 
these people were in searcu of me, and the sequel 
proved that my surmises were well founded. It rained 



404 Fifty Years in Ci tains ; or, 



throiTgliout this day, and the fear of being apprehended * 
by those who came in pursuit of me, confined me to 
the swamp, until after dark the following evening, 
when I ventured to leave the thicket, and return to 
the hi^^h road, the bearing? of which it was impossible 
for me to ascertain, on account of the dense clouds that 
obscured the heavens. All that could be done in my 
situation, was to take care not to follow that end of 
the road which had led me to the swamp. Turning 
my back once more upon Milledgeville, and walking 
at a quick pace, every effort was made to remove my- 
self as far as possible this night from the scene of suf- 
fering, for which that swamp will be always memora- 
ble in my mind. 

The rain had ceased to fiill at the going down of the 

sun ; and the darkness of this second night was not so 

great as that of the first had been. This circumstance 

was regarded by me as a happy presage of the final 

success that awaited my undertaking. Events proved 

that I was no prophet ; for the dim light of this night 

was the cause of the sad misfortune that awaited me. 

In a former part of this volume, the reader is made 

acquainted with the deep interest that is taken by all 

the jDlanters, far and wide, around the plantation from 

which a slave has escaped by running away. Twenty 

years had wrought no change in favor of the fugitive ; 

nor had the feuds and dissentions that agitate and dis- 



The Life of an American Slave. 405 



imci ihe communities of white men, produced any re- 
b.yation in the friendship that they profess to feel, and 
really do feel, for each other, on a question of so much 
importance to them all. 

More than twenty miles of road had been left be- 
hind me this night ; and it must have been two or 
three o'clock in the morning, when, as I was passing a 
part of the road that led through a dense pine grove, 
where the trees on either side grew close to the wheel 
tracks, five or six men suddenly rushed upon me from 
both sides of the road, and with loud cries of " Kill 
him ! kill him !" accompanied with oaths and oppro- 
brious language, seized me, dragged me to the ground, 
and bound me fast with a long cord, which was wrap- 
ped round my arms and body, so as to confine my 
hands below my hips. 

In this condition I was driven, or rather dragged, 
about two miles to a kind of tavern or public house, 
that stood by the side of the road ; where my captors 
were joined, soon after daylight, by at least twenty of 
their companions, who had been out all night waiting 
and watching for me on the other roads of this part of 
the country. Those who had taken me w^ere loudly 
applauded by their fellows; and the whole party 
passed the morning in drinking, singing songs, and 
playing cards at this house. At breakfast time they 



406 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

gave me a large cake of corn bread and some soui 
milk for breakfast. 

About ten o'clock in tlie morning my master arrived 
at the tavern^ in comj)any with two or three other gen- 
tlemen, all strangers to me. My master, when he 
came into my presence, looked at me, and said, " Well, 

, you had bad luck in running away this time ;" 

and immediately asked aloud, w^hat any person would 
give for me. One man, who was slightly intoxicated, 
said he would give four hundred dollars for me. Other 
bids followed, until my pirice was soon My) to five hun- 
dred and eighty dollars, for which I was stricken off, 
by my master himself, to a gentleman, who immedi- 
ately gave his note for me, and took charge of me as 
his property. 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 407 



CHAPTER XX 



The name of my new master was Jones, a planter, 
who was only a visiter in this part of the country ; his 
residence being about fifty miles down the country. 
The next day, my new master set off with me to the 
place of his residence ; permitting me to walk behind 
him, as he rode on horseback, and leaving me entirely 
unshackled. I was resolved, that as my owner treated 
me with so much liberality, the trust he reposed in me 
should not be broken until after we had reached his 
home ; though the determination of again running 
away, and attempting to escape from Georgia, never 
abandoned me for a moment. 

The country through which we passed, on our jour- 
ney, was not rich. The soil was sandy, light, and, in 
many places, much exhausted by excessive tillage. 
The timber, in the woods where the ground was high, 
was almost exclusively pine ; but many swamps, and 
extensive tracts of low ground intervened, in which 
maple, gum, and all the other trees common to such 
land in the South, abounded. 



408 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



No improvement in tlie condition of the slaves on 
the plantations, was here perceptible ; but it appear- 
ed to me, that there was now even a greater want of 
good clothes, amongst the slaves on the various plan- 
tations that we passed, than had existed twenty years 
before. Everywhere, the overseers still kept up the 
same custom of walking in the fields with the long 
whip, that has been elsewhere described ; and every- 
where, the slaves proved, by the husky appearance of 
their skins, and the dry, sunburnt aspect of their hair, 
that they were strangers to animal food. 

On the second day of our journey, in the evening, 
we arrived at the residence of my master, about eighty 
miles from Savannah. The plantation, which had now 
become the place of my residence, was not large, con- 
taining only about three hundred acres of cleared land, 
and having on it about thirty working slaves of all 
classes. 

It was now the very midst of the season of picking 
cotton, and, at the end of twenty years from the time 
of my first flight, I again had a daily task assigned 
me, with the promise of half a cent a pound for all the 
cotton I should pick, beyond my day's work. Picking 
cotton, like every other occupation requiring active 
manipulation, depends more upon sleight than strength, 
and I was not now able to pick so riiuch in a day as I 
was once a,ble to do. 



Tlie Life of ^n American Slave. 409 

My master seemed to be a man ardently bent on the 
acquisition of wealth, and came into the field, where 
we were at work, almost every day ; frequently remon- 
stratimr, in strong- lanc^uafre, with the overseer, because 
he did not get more work done. 

Our rations, on this jjlace, were a half peck of corn 
per week ; in addition to which, we had rather more 
than a peck of sweet potatoes allowed to each person. 
Our provisions were distributed to us on every Sunday 
morning by the overseer ; but my master was gener- 
ally present, either to see that justice was done to us, 
or that injustice was not done to himself. 

When I had been here about a week, my master 

came into the field one day, and, in passing near me, 

stopped and told me that I had now fallen into good 

hands, as it was his practice not to whip his people 

much. That he, in truth, never whipped them, noi 

sufiered his overseer to whip them, except in flagrant 

cases. That he had discovered a mode of punishment 

much more mild, and, at the same time, much more 

efiectual than flogging ; and that he governed his 

negroes exclusively under this mode of discipline. He 

then told me, that when I came home in the evening 

I must come to the house ; and that he would then 

make me acquainted with the principles upon which 

he cliastised his slaves. 

Going to the house in the evening, according to 
13 



410 Fifty Yecri s in Chains ; or, 



orders, my master showed me a pump, set in a well in 
which the water rose within ten feet of the surface of 
the ground. Th3 spout of this pump was elevated at 
lea&t thirteen feet above the earth, and when the w^ater 
was to be drawn from it, the person who worked the 
handle ascended by a ladder to the proper station. — 
The water in this well, although so near the surface, 
was very cold ; and the pump discharged it in a large 
stream. One of the w^omen employed in the house, 
had committed some offence for which she was to be 
punished ; and the opportunity was embraced (^f ex- 
hibiting to me the effect of this novel mode of torture 
upon the human frame. The woman was stripped 
quite naked, and tied to a post that stood just under 
the stream of water, as it fell from the spout of the 
pump. A lad was then ordered to ascend the ladder, 
and pump w^ater upon the head and shoulders of the 
victim ; who had not been under the waterflill more 
than a minute, before she began to cry and scream in 
a most lamentable manner. In a short time, she ex- 
erted her strength, in the most convulsive throes, in 
trying to escape from the post ; but as the cords were 
strong, this was impossible. After another minute or 
a little more, her cries became w^eaker, and soon after- 
w^ards her head fell forward upon her breast ; and then 
the boy was ordered to cease pumping the Avater. The 
woman was removed in a state of insensibility ; but 



Tlie Life of an American Slave. 411 



recovered her faculties in about an hour. The next 
morning she compLained of lightness of head, hut was 
able to go to work. 

This punishment of the pump, as it is called, was 
never inflicted on me ; and I am only able to describe 
it, as it has been described to me, by those who have 
endured it. 

When the water first strikes the head and arms, it 
is not at all painful ; but in a very short time, it pro- 
duces the sensation that is felt when heavy blows are 
inflicfed with large rods, of the size of a man's finger. 
This perception becomes more and more painful, until 
the skull bone and shoulder blades appear to be broken 
in pieces. Finall}', all the fliculties become oppressed ; 
breathing becomes more and more difHcult ; until the 
eye-sight becomes dim, and animation ceases. This 
punishment is in flict a temporary murder ; as all the 
pains are endured, that can be felt by a person who is 
deprived of life by being beaten witli bludgeons ; but 
after the punishment of the pump, the sufferer is 
restored to existence by being laid in a bed, and covered 
with warm clothes. A giddiness of the head, and o]}- 
pression of the breast, follows this operation, for a day 
or two, and sometimes longer. The object of calling 
me to be a witness of this new mode of torture, doubt- 
lessly, was to intimidate me from running away ; but 
like medicines administered by empirics, the spectacle 



412 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 

had precisely the opposite effect, from that which it 
was expected to ]3roduce. 

After my arrival on this estate, my intention had 
been to defer my elopement until the next year, be- 
fore I had seen the torture inflicted on this unfortunate 
woman ; but from that moment my resolution wTtS 
unalterably fixed, to escape as quickly as possible. 
Sucli was my desperation of feeling, at this time, that 
I deliberated seriously upon the project of endeavoring 
to make my way southward, for the purpose of joining 
the Indians in Florida. Fortune reserved a more 
agreeable fate for me. 

On the Saturday night after the woman was punish- 
ed at the pump, I stole a yard of cotton bagging from 
the cotton-gin house, and converted it into a bag, by 
means of a coarse needle and thread that I borrowed 
of one of the black women. On the next morning, 
when our weekly rations wxre distributed to us, my 
portion w^as carefully placed in my bag, under pretence 
of fears that it Avould be stolen from me, if it was left 
open in the loft of the kitchen that I lodged in. 

This day being Sunday, I did not go to the field to 
work as usual, on that day, but under pretence of be- 
ing unwell, remained in the kitchen all day, to be bet- 
ter i)reparcd for the toils of the following nighi . After 
daylight had totally disappeared, taking my bag under 
my arm. under preten« 3 of going to tlie mill to grind 



TJte Life of an American Slave. 413 

my corn, I stole softly across the cotton fields to the 
nearest woods, and taking an observation of the stars, 
slirected my course to the eastward, resolved that in 
no event should anything induce me to travel a single 
yard on the high road, until at least one hundred miles 
from this plantation. 

Keeping on steadily througli the whole of this night, 
and meeting with no swamps, or briery thickets in my 
way, I have no doubt that before daylight the plan- 
tation was more than thirty miles behind me. 

Twenty years before this I had been in Savannah, 
and noted at that time that great numbers of ships 
were in that port, taking in and loading cotton. My 
plan was now to reach Savannah, in the best way I 
could, by some means to be devised after my arrival 
in the city, to procure a passage to some of the north- 
ern cities. 

When day appeared before me, I was in a large cot- 
ton field, and before the woods could be reached, it 
was gray dawn ; but the forest bordering on the field 
was large, and afforded me good shelter through the 
day, under the cover of a large thicket of swamp lau- 
rel that lay at the distance of a quarter of a mile from 
the field. It now became necessary to kindle a fire, 
for all my stock of provisions, consisting of com and 
potatoes, was raw and undressed. Less fortunate now 
than in my former flight, no fire apparatus was in my 



414 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



possession, and driven at last to the extremit}', I de- 
termined to endeavor to produce fire by nibbing two 
sticks together, and spent at least two hours of inces- 
sant toil, in this vain operation, without the least 
prospect of success. Abandoning this project at length, 
I turned my thoughts to searching for a stone of some 
kind, with which to endeavor to extract fire from an 
old jack-knife, that had been my companion in Mary- 
land for more than three years. My labors were fruit- 
less. No stone could be found in this swamp, and the 
day was passed in anxiety and hunger, a few raw po- 
tatoes being my only food. 

Nii^ht at leno-th came, and with it a renewal of my 
traveling labors. Avoiding with the utmost care, every 
appearance of a road, and pursuing my way until day- 
light, I must have traveled at least thirty miles this 
night. Awhile before day, in crossing a field, I fortu- 
nately came upon a bed of large pebbles, on the side 
of a hill. Several of these were deposited in my bag, 
which enabled me wdien day arrived to procure fire, 
wdth which I parched corn and roasted potatoes suffi- 
cient to subsist me for two or three days. On the 
fourth night of my journey, fortune directed me to a 
broad, open highway, that appeared to be much 
traveled. 

Near the side of this road I established my quarters 
for the day in a thick pine wood, for the purpose of 



Tlic Life of an Ajncricau Slave. 415 

making observations upon the j^eople who traveled it, 
and of judging thence of the part of the country to 
which it led. 

Soon after daylight a wagon passed along, drawn by 
oxen, and loaded with bales of cotton ; then followed 
some white men on horseback, and soon after sunrise a 
wjiole train of wagons and carts, all loaded with bales of 
cotton, passed by, following the wagon iirst seen by 
me. In tlie course of tlic day, at least one hundred 
wagons and carts passed along this road towards the 
south-east, all laden with cotton bales ; and at least 
an equal number came towards the west, either laden 
with casks of various dimensions, or entirely empty. 
Numerous horsemen, many carriages, and great num- 
bers of persons on foot, also passed to and fro on this 
road, in the course of the day. 

All these indications satisfied me that I must bo 
near some large town, the scat of an extensive cotton 
market. The next consideration with me was to know 
how i\ir it was to this town, for which purpose I de- 
termined to travel on the road the succeedino; nifrht. 

Lying in the woods until about eleven o'clock, I 
rose, came to the road and traveled it until within an 
hour of daylight, at which time the country around 
me appeared almost wholly clear of timber ; and 
houses became much more numerous than they had 
been in the former part of my journey. 



416 Fifty Years in Cha.ns ; or, 

Things continued to wear this aspect until daylight, 
when I stopjDcd; and sat down by the side of a high 
fence that stood beside the road. After remaining 
here a short time, a wagon laden with cotton passed 
along, drawn by oxen, whose driver, a black man, 
asked me if I was going towards town. Being an- 
swered in the affirmative, he then asked me if I did 
not wish to ride in his wagon. I told him I had been 
out of town all night, and should be very thankful to 
him for a ride ; at the same time ascending his wagon 
and placing myself in a secure and easy position on 
the bags of cotton. 

In this manner we traveled on for about two hours, 
>vhen we entered the town of Savannah. In my situ- 
ation there was no danger of any one suspecting me to 
be a runaway slave ; for no runaway had ever been 
known to flee from the country and seek refuge in 
Savannah. 

The man who drove the wagon passed through sev- 
eral of the principal streets of the city, and stojoped his 
team before a large warehouse, standing on a wharf, 
looking into the river. Here I assisted my new friend 
to unload his cotton, and when we were done he invi- 
ted me to share his breakfast with him, consisting of 
corn bread, roasted potatoes, and some cold boiled rice. 

Whilst we were at our breakfast, a black man came 
along the street, and asked us if vre knew where he 



Tlie Life of an American Slave 417 



ouia h„-e a ]:an,l, to help Vnn to work a daj- or two 
a once rep ic.! that n.y n.aster had sent me to town 
to H,-e myself out for a few weeks, and that I wa^ 
ready to go with hi,n immediately. The joy I felt at 
findrng employment so overcame me, that all thoul, 
of my wages was forgotten. Bidding farewell to 'the 
man who had given me my hreakfest, and thank ! 
hu. m my heart for his kindness, I followed my new 
employer, who mformed me that he had engaged to 
remove a thousand bales of cotton from a lar^e war 
house, to the end of a wharf at which a ship llv that 
was taking in the cotton as a load ' ' 

This man was a slave, but hired his time of his mas- 
te a two hundred and fifty dollars a year, which he 
d he paul m monthly instalments. He did what he 
ealcd job work, which consisted of undertaking jobs 
and hrrmg men to work under him, if the job 4 too 

great to be performed by himself. In the iresen ! 
Stan eh ^^ ^^ ^.^^^^ ^^^^^ J.^^ 

bred to he p him to remove the cotton in wheel-bar- 
rows and lay xt near the end of the wharf, when it 
was taken up by sailors and carried on board the shi^ 
tiiat was receiving- it. ^ 

We continued "working hard all day; and amongst 
the crew of the ship was a black man, with whom I 
resolved to become acquainted by some means. I- 
cordmgly at nigh, after we had ,uit our work, I went 



418 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



to tlie end of tlio wliarf against wliicli the sliip lay 
moored, and stood there a long time, waiting for the 
bhick sailor to make his appearance on deck. At length 
my desires were gratified. He came upon the deck, 
and sat down near the main-mast, with a pipe in his 
month, which he was smoking with great apparent 
pleasure. After a few minutes, I spoke to him, for he 
had not yet seen me as it appeared, and when he heard 
my voice, he rose up and came to the side of the ship 
near where I stood. We entered into conversation to- 
gether, in tlie course of which he informed me that his 
home was in New- York ; that he had a wife and sev- 
eral children there, hut that he followed the sea for a 
livelihood, and knew no other mode of life. He also 
asked me where my master lived, and if Georgia had 
always been the place of my residence. 

I deemed this a favorable opportunity of effecting 
tlie object I had in view, in seeking the acquaintance 
of this man, and told him at once that by law and 
justice I was a free man, but had been kidnapped near 
Baltimore, forcibly brought to Georgia, and sold there 
as a slave. That I was now a fugitive from my mas- 
ter, and in search of some means of getting back to 
my wife and children. 

The man seemed moved by the account of my suf- 
ferings, and at the close of my narrative, told me he 
could not receive me onboard the ship, as the captain 



The Life of an American Slave. 419 



had given positive orders to him, not to let any of the 
negroes of Savannah come on board, lest they should 
steal something belonging to the ship. He further 
told me that he was on watch, and should continue 
on deck two hours. That he was forced to take a turn 
of watching the ship every night, for two hours ; but 
that his turn would not come the next night until after 
midnight. 

I now begged him to enable me to secrete myself 
on board the shij), previous to the time of her sailing, 
so that I might be conveyed to Philadelphia, whither 
the ship was bound with her load of cotton. He at 
first received my application with great coldness, and 
said he would not do any thing contrary to the orders 
of the captain ; but before we j)arted, he said he 
should be glad to assist me if he could, but that the 
execution of the plan proposed by me, would be attend- 
ed with great dangers, if not ruin. 

In my situation there was nothing too hazardous 
for me to undertake, and I informed him that if he 
would let me hide myself in the hold of the ship, 
amongst the bags of cotton, no one should ever know 
that he had any knowledge of the fact ; and that all 
the danger, and all the disasters that might attend the 
affair, should foil exclusively on me. He fiixally told 
me to go away, and tliat he would think of the matter 
undl the next day. 



420 Fifty Years in Chains ; or, 



It was obvious that his heart was softened in my 
favor ; that his feelings of compassion almost impelled 
him to do an act in my behalf, that was forbidden by 
his judgment, and his sense of duty to his employers. 
As the houses of the city were now closed, and I was 
a stranger in the place, I went to a wagon that stood 
in front of the warehouse, and had been unladen of 
the cotton that had been brought in it, and creeping 
into it, made my bed with the driver, who permitted 
me to share his lodgings amongst some corn tops that 
he had brought to feed his oxen. 

When the morning came, I went again to the ship, 
and when the people came on deck, asked them for 
the captain, whom I should not have known by his 
dress, which was very nearly similar to that of the 
sailors. On being asked if he did not wish to hire a 
hand, to help to load his ship, he told me I might go 
to work amongst the men, if I chose, and he would 
pay me what I was worth. 

My object was to procure employment on board the 
ship, and not to get wages ; and in the course of this 
day I found means to enter the hold of the ship several 
times, and examine it minutely. The black sailor 
promised that he would not betray me, and that if I 
could find the means of escaping on board the ship he 
would not disclose it. 

At the end of three days, the ship had taken in her 



The Life of an American Slave. 421 

loading, and the captain said in my })rcsencc tliat he 
intended to sail the day after. No time was now to 
be lost, and asking the captain what he thought I had 
earned, he gave me three dollars, which was certainly 
very liberal pay, considering that during the whole 
time that I had worked for him my fare had been the 
same as that of the sailors, who had as much as they 
could consume of excellent food. 

The sailors were now busy in trimming the ship and 
making ready for sea, and observing that this work re- 
quired them to spend mucli time in the hold of the 
ship, I went to the captain and told him, that as he 
had paid me good wages and treated me well, I would 
work with his people the residue of this day, for my 
victuals and half a gallon of molasses ; which he said 
he would give me. My first object now, was to get 
into the hold of the ship with those who were adjust- 
ing the cargo. The first time the men below called 
for aid, I went to them, and being there, took care to 
remain with them. Being placed at one side of the 
hold, for the purpose of packing the bags close to the 
ship's timbers, I so managed as to leave a space be- 
tween two of the bags, large enough for a man to 
creep in and conceal himself. This cavity was near 
the opening in the centre of the hold, that was left to 
let men get down, to stow away the last of the bags 
that were put in. In this small hollow retreat among 



422 Fifty Years in Ch.i}is; o?-, 

the bags of cotton, I determined to take my passage 
to Philadelphia, if by any means I could succeed in 
stealing on board the ship at night. 

When the evening came, I went to a store near the 
^vharf, and bought two jugs, one that held half a gal- 
lon, and the other, a large stone jug, holding more 
than three gallons. When it was dark I filled mj 
large jug with water ; purchased twenty pounds of 
pilot bread at a bakery, which I tied in a large hand- 
kerchief ; and taking my jugs in my hand, went on 
board the ship to receive my molasses of the captain, 
for the labor of the day. The captain was not on 
board, and a boy gave me the molasses ; but, under 
pretence of waiting to see the captain, I sat down be- 
tween two rows of cotton bales that were stowed on 
deck. The night was very dark, and, w\atching a 
favorable opportunity, when the man on deck had 
gone forward, I succeeded in placing both my jugs 
upon the bags of cotton that rose in the hold, almost to 
the deck. In another moment I glided down amongst 
the cargo, and lost no time in placing my jugs in the 
place provided for them, amongst the bales of cotton, 
beside the lair provided for myself. 

Soon after I had taken my station for the voyage, 
the captain came on board, and the boy reported to 
him that he had paid me off, and dismissed me. In a 
short time, all was quiet on board the ship, except the 



The Life of an American Slave. 423 



occasional tread of tlie man on watch. I slept nono 
at all this night ; the anxiety that Oi^pressed me pre- 
venting me from taking any repose. 

Before day the captain was on deck, and gave orders 
tu the seamen to clear the ship for sailing, and to be 
ready to descend the river with tlie ebb tide, which 
was expected to flow at sunrise. I felt the motion of 
the- ship when she got under weigh, and thought the 
time long before I heard the breakers of the ocean 
surging against her sides. '' 

In the place where I lay, wli<n tlie hatches were 
closed, total darkness prevailed ; and I had no idea 
of the Lipse of time, or of the progress we made, until, 
having at one period crept out into the open space, 
between the rows of cotton bags, wliich I have before 
described, I lieard a man, who appeared from the 
sound of his voice to be standing on the hatch, call 
out and say, '' That is Cape Hatteras." I had already 
come out of my covert several times into the open 
space ; but the hatches were closed so tightly, as to 
exclude all light. It appeared to me that we had al- 
ready been at sea a long time ; but as darkness was 
unbroken with mo, I could not make any computation 
of periods. 

Soon after this, the hatch was 0])ened, and the light 
was let into the hold. A man descended for the pur- 
pose of examining the state of the cargo ; who returned 



424 Fifty Years in Cliains ; or, 

in a sliort time. The hatch was again closed, and 
nothing of moment occurred from this time, until I 
heard and felt the shijo strike against some solid body. 
In a short time I heard much noise, and a multitude 
of sounds of various kinds. All this satisfied me that 
the shijD was in some port ; for I no longer heard the 
sound of the waves, nor i^erceived the least motion in 
the ship. 

At length the hatch was again opened, and the 
light was let in upon me. My anxiety now was, to 
escape from the ship, without being discovered by any 
one ; to accomplish which I determined to issue from 
the hold as soon as night came on, if possible. Wait- 
ing until sometime after daylight had disappeared, I 
ventured to creep to the hatchway, and raise my head 
above deck. Seeing no one on board, I crawled out 
of the hold, and stepped on board a ship that lay along- 
side of that in which I had come a passenger. Here a 
man seized me, and called me a thief, saying I had 
come to rob his ship ; and it was with much difficulty 
that I prevailed upon him to let me go. He at length 
permitted me to go on the wharf ; and I once more 
felt myself a freeman. 

I did not know what city I was in ; but as the 
sailors had all told me, at Savannah, that their ship 
was bound to PhiladeliDhia, I had no doubt of being 
iD that city. In going alon« the street, a black man 



The Life of an American Slave 425 



met me, and I asked him if I was in Philadeli^hia.— 
This question caused the stranger to laugh loudl}^ ; 
and he passed on without giving me any answer. Soon 
afterwards I met an old gentleman, with drab clothes 
on, as I could see by the light of the lamps. To him 
I propounded the same question, that had been ad- 
dressed a few moments before to the black man. This 
time, however, I received a civil answer, being told 
that I was in Philadelphia. 

This gentleman seemed concerned for me, either 
because of my wretched and ragged appearance, or 
because I was a stranger, and did not know where I 
was. Whether for one cause or the other, I knew not ; 
but he told me to follow him, and led me to the house 
of a black man, not flir off, whom he directed to take 
care of me until the morning. In this house I was 
kindly entertained all night, and when the morning 
came, the old gentleman in drab clothes returned, and 
brought with him an entire suit of clothes, not more 
than half worn, of which he made me a present, and 
gave me money to buy a hat and some muslin for a 
couple of shirts. He then turned to go away, and said, 
" I perceive that thee is a slave, and has run away 
from thy master. Thee can now go to work for thy 
living ; but take care that they do not catch thee 
again." I then told him, that I had been a slave, 
and had twice run away and escaped from the State 



426 Fifty Years in Chains ; or. 



of Georgia. The gentleman seemed a little incredulous 
of that whicli I told him ; but ^vhen I explained to 
him the cause of the condition in which he found me, 
he seemed to become more than ever interested in my 
fate. This gentleman, whose name I shall not jDublish, 
has always been a kind friend to me. 

After remaining in Philadelphia a few weeks, I re- 
solved to return to my little farm in Maryland, for the 
purpose of selling my property for as much as it w^ould 
produce, and of bringing my wife and children to 
Pennsylvania. 

On arriving in Baltimore, I went to a tavern keep- 
er, whom I had formerly supplied with vegetables 
from my garden. This man appeared greatly surpris- 
ed to see me ; and asked me how I had managed to 
escape from my master in Georgia. I told him, that 
the man who had taken me to Georgia was not my 
master ; but had kidnapped mo, and carried me away 
by violence. The tavern keeper then told me, that 
I had better leave Baltimore as soon as possible, and 
showed me a hand-bill that was stuck up against the 
wall of his bar-room, in which a hundred and fifty 
dollars reward was offered for my apprehension. I 
immediately left this house, and fled from Baltimore 
that very night. 

When I reached my former residence, I found a 
white man living in it, whom I did not know. This 



The Life of cm Amauari Slave. 427 



man, on l>ein- questioned by me, as to the time he 
liad owned this place, and tlie manner in which he had 
o])t:iined possession, informed nv^, that a black man 
had formerly lived here ; but he was a runaway slave, 
and his master had come, the summer before, and 
carried him off. That the wife of the former owner of 
the house was also a slave ; and that her master had 
come about six weeks before the present time, and 
taken her and her children, and sold them in Baltimore 
to a slave-dealer from the South. 

This man also informed me, tliat lie was not in 
this neighborhood at the time the woman and her 
children were carried away ; but that he had received 
his information from a black woman, who lived half a 
mile off. 

This black woman I was well acquainted with ; she 
had been my neighbor, and I knew her to be my friend. 
She had been set free, some years before by a gentle- 
man of this neighborhood, and resided under his pro- 
tection, on a part of his land. I immediately went to 
the house of this woman, who could scarcely believe 
the evidence of her own eyes, when she saw me enter 
her door. The first words she spoke to me were, " Lucy 
and her children have all been stolen away." At my 
request, she gave me the following account of the man- 
ner in which my wife and children, all of whom had 
been free from their birth, were seized and driven into 
southern slavery. 



428 Fifty Yeai s in Cliains ; or. 



"A few weeks." said she, ^^ after tliey took you 
away, and before Lucy had so far recovered from the 
terror produced by that event, as to remain in her 
house all night with her children, without some other 
company, I went one evening to stay all night with 
her ; a kindness that I alwnys rendered her, if no other 
person came to remain with her. 

'^ It was late when we went to bed, perhaps eleven 
o'clock ; and after we had been asleep some time, we 
were awakened by a loud rap at the door. At first 
we said nothing ; but upon the rap being several times 
repeated, Lucy asked who was there. She was then 
told, in a voice that seemed by its sound to be that of 
a woman, to get up and open the door ; adding, that 
the person without had something to tell her that she 
wished to hear. Lucy, supposing the voice to be that 
of a black woman, the slave of a lady living near, rose 
and opened the door ; but, to our astonishment, in- 
stead of a woman coming in, four or five men rushed 
into the house and immediately closed the door ; at 
which one of the men stood, with his back against it, 
until the others made a light in the fire-place, and 
proceeded deliberately to tie Lucy with a rope. — 
Search was then made in the bed for the children ; 
and I was found and dragged out. This seemed to 
produce some consternation among the captors, whose 
faces were all b ick, but wh^-se hair an-.l visages were 



The Life of an A merit an Slave. 420 



those of -wLite men. A consultation -svas hold amoniz 
them, the object of which was to determine whether I 
should also be taken aloni^witli Lurvand the cliildron, 
or be left behind, on account of the interest which my 
master was supposed to feel for me. 

"It was finally agreed, that as it would be very 
dangerous to carry mo off, lest my old master should 
cause pursuit to be made after them, they would leave 
me behind, and take only Lucy and the children. 
One of the number tlien said it would not do to leave 
me behind, and at liberty, as I would immediately go 
and give intelligence of what I liad seen ; and if the 
allair should be discovered l)y tlie members of the 
abolition society, before they had time to get out of 
Maryland, they would certainly be detected and pun- 
ished for tJic crimes thev were committing. 

"' It was finally resolved to tie me with cords, to one 
of the logs of the house^ gag me by tying a rope in my 
mouth, and confining it closely to the back of my neck. 
They immediately confined me, and then took the 
children from the bed. The oldest boy they tied to 
his mother, and compelled them to go out of the house 
together. The three youngest children were then 
taken out of bed, and carried ofi" in tl: e hands of the 
men who had tied me to the I02:. I never saw nor 
heard any more of Lucy or her children. 

•• Fur myself, I remained in tlie house, the door of 



*'i"30 ^"^fty Years in Chains ; or, 

which was carefully closed and fastened after it was 
shut, until the second night after my confinement, 
without anything to eat or drink. On the second 
night some unknown persons came and cut the cords 
that hound me, when I returned to my ow^n cahin." 

This intelligence almost deprived me of life ; it was 
the most dreadful of all the misfortunes that I had 
ever suffered. It was now^ clear that some slave-dealer 
had come in my absence and seized my wife and chil- 
dren as slaves, and sold them to such men as I had 
served in the South. They had now- passed into hope- 
less bondage, and were gone forever beyond my reach. 
I myself was advertised as a fugitive slave, and was 
liable to be arrested at each moment, and dragged 
back to Georgia. I rushed out of my own house in 
despair and returned to rennsyivama with a broken 
heart. 

For the last few years, i have resided auout fifty 
miles from Philadelphia, where i expect to pass the 
evening of my life, in working hard for my subsistence, 
without the least hope of ever again seeing my wife 
and children : — fearful, at this day, to let my place of 
residence be knowm, lest even yet it may be supposed, 
that as an article of property, I am of sufficient value 
to be worth pursuing in my old age. 

THE END. 



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in one who ^U and re:i.o;1:L \ . . ;., Z^^^^Z Hr^j!'''^ 

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Jc^ wa5 man as well a5 God ! In thi, book He i. seen, converged with eaten 

; hexl?r' J'lVT'ir"^*^"'^^"'"'"^^^^'^'''''^''^"'^ "--I relation., ff.^ 
wfh exemplary fide . y to tho Scnpturo narrative, and yet with a frc:^hne«3 which 
alls up..n the ,mnd hke a new and thrilling narrative, Ind a life-likenoi in Tverv 
Kneament wh...h we f.el mu^t he true to t1,e original.' In truth thnefder. no 

t^re a JthrvoTn Ti'^ 'rV'T^ ''"^'"•=^' '' ^^^'"° along wi'th breathless' in- 
tere> , and the very depth.s of his heart reached and stirred into uncontroll-.hlft 
emotion. Outside of tho Holy Oo^ls them.elve,, wo ha^e never =een so movin! 
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r« In his prcfnco, the author informs us tliiU the work " is not dc^ipioil !vs a svstoni- [J 
"" ntic treatise, but as an hunihlo essay on the pjreat, the inoxliaustib'o suljcot of the , ^ 
love of Christ, as manifested to a. lost worKl." It is diviJed into four parts, under >-, 
the followin;; general hcatls : " The Lovo of Christ ;" " Christ and Him Crucified ;" . t 
h '< Wanderlusts of a Pil.i^rim ;" " Immanucl's Land." Thcso are sulidivided into 
\^ some eight or ten chapters each. .,/. 

J^, From the New-York Chronirle. \i 

y^ In comin.f; to the pages of this good book, after noticing so many of quite a differ- ^-i 
y ent character, we feel our souls refreshed like a mnn who reaches a green, benuliful ■/. 
'(\ rivulet— irrig:\tedo;>sis in a land where no water is, a land which is as the shadow » 
> of death. It is much in the strain of Doddridge's " Rise and Progress of Religion ' 
l« in the Soul," or Baxter's " Saint's Rest," and like the latter book "was composed 
[-'' during a long period of recovery from a chronic disease, which brought the author to ,-"j 
'^K the gales of death, and well ni'i^h terminate<l his life." It offers Christianity to the -^ 
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h phical form, not as gratifying curiosity by now revelations in reference to departed ,^- 
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'(X sorbod, but Christiiinity as embraced by one who has been slain by the law and ^'j 
y made alive by Christ, as the balm of a woun<led heart, as solvation for the lo.--t, as ,. 
fi life for the dead. And as the matter of this work is thus juirely evangelical, so its ' i 
v^ style is emiuentlv simple, direct, appropriate. It is made to bear with great force 
K* directly ui>on the" conscience, and hence is hortatory, pungont an<l powerful, stirrmg ' 
• ■ - - • - " ■ • Wo could wish that what- , i 

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KINCAIU: 

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A History of the Labors of 

Ui:\. KUGEMO KINCAIJ). 

BY ALFHKD ft. PATTOJT, 

Aalbor of «• Ll^ht in t*:*' V-"-t ," " Mr Jot nn I rrnwn." ctr , rto. A book full •) 
f>fTLr. joi inlcrft, KmbcUishc'l with 

A IIi;;lily . ... led Portrait on StccL .^ 

And two Ktr^antly Tlntrd lllnatrMtlon*« one Ilr prr«f>ntln|^ Mr. j 
Klncalir* C'nt>ttir« by the Ilohbcra, mid the odirr, liU 
MciiiorAbl« Vlalt to the ^lountnin < liief. 

Th« lif« of oo r- chnptom than \ 



^> THE CONTENTS OF THE WORK AHE AS FOLLOWS « 

do. 



da 



I da . •! li FiclJ. ,^ 

do. ' 

L» da ( 

. do. 7 

; do. b:U i ' ity .^ 

do. 9th — I'. .luulo MouutaiiiA. 1*^ 

da H" ' 4 

do. 1 1 J 

do. 1. . < 

do. I'SUt — \ iii .ArfocaD. ^ 

^ do. 14fh— \ unUin Chief. »> 

da 15- V ' / 

J da iK -ih. '^' 

J da 17 a. j"^ 

>• do. ISlii — KvsatiiifiSf Li'i/'/tii. 'r- 

T do. 19th — Havin? Favor with the People. ly 

da 20th— L ' ' ■ I,y War. ^ 

do. 2l9t— -' ird at Prome. */ 

da 221— In . . ng. 1% 

do. 231— On iii« K • s. •* 

do. 24th— Th« Ov t/) Burraah t) 

do '^'- " 

B«at bj Bail. J A'ldreu 

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I '* TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION." ^ 

i FIFTY YEAES IE CMIIS; | 

OR, g 

THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN SLAVE. I 



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WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 



\| " My God ! ctm such things be ! 

/| Hast thou not suid that whnt^o'er is done, 

vi L'nto thy weakest and thy humblest one, 

:ji Is even done to thcG 1" Whittier. 

(^ 430 PAGES, CLOTH, GILT BACK, PRICE «1. g 

'1 This is the title of one of the simplest, yet most intensely interesting biographies 
'-'^ of the day. It is the plain, homely history of an American slave in the far South, 

■ who, after two or three escapes and recaptures, finally, an old man, foimd freadom ^ 

■ and rest in one of the Northern States. ^ 
i " The story," says the Preface, " is true in every particular. Kespon?ible citi- )^ 

f i zens of a neighboring State can vouch for the reality of the narrative. The language , 
'^ of the slave'hns not at all times been strictly adhered to, as a halt century of bond- 
'^* age unfitted him for literary work. The subject of the story is still a slave by the 
Y' laws of this country, and it would not be wise to reveal his name." 

I OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 

'^i Few works are better calculated than that now before us to spread .sound views 
H on the subject of slavery, as it deals directly with the fortunes of individuals, 
always more ^tractive themes with the mass of mankind than the ablest argu- 
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hi The story is told with great simplicity, but with much power and pathos. Who- 
{) ever takes it up will find it difficult to lay it down until it is finished. The merit 
'":] of the work lies in its narration of personal experience. ^ The writer does not stop 
1; to argue about slavery, and rarely to exclaim against it as a gigantic system of 
.^, wrong, but contents himself wiih narrating his own experience while a slave, and J% 
"^ the reader can make his own deductions. This is the way in which all such books ^ 
n should bo written. Leave the reader to reason, to moralize ; Lt the writer, the 
-■' sufierer, tell his story ! As a very interesting piece of self-history, this work has 
i^ high merit, and as a picture of American Slavery, higher still. — National £ra, 
'f\ Washingion, D. C. 

''^- This is an autobiography, written in an earnest, simple, and touching style. It 
V will be read with deep interest by very many, and wdl make no converts to sla- 
f\ Yery.—Clu'istian Chronicle, Fhiladdphia, Fa. J% 

^ The narrative will be found deeply interesting to all who sympathize with the op- ^ 
l^ pressed and down-trodden slave. — Christian Secretary^ Hartford, Ct. pi 

"'A Sample Copies sent by mail, postage paid, to aiij^ part of the U. H 
h States, on receipt of the price. Address % 

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A WORK OF INTENSE INTEREST. 






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JUST rUBLlSIIED, 



li 



MADELON IIAWLEY;i 

OR, THE JESUIT AND HIS VICTIM. 



3. Ucnclation of Uomanism. 



r.V WILT. I AM EARLE BINDER. 



" WonM you piwa w Ithln 
The chani\>cr of t!i<« mystery— ntitl bow 
Before Iho awful knowledge that id Ihcror 



-Mki.les. 



Thi? is one of the most Thrilling Kevclations ever publishcfl, nn-l one that will ^ 
(jhnvo an enormous pnlo. Our ftrranKcments arc suib ns will cnahlo us to .supply 
r at leii«t 2 000 CopiF.s pf.r wkfk, an. I we hofK) thu? to l.c ni>io to meet tlio (Icman'l. 
K The i.ook contains nearly 300 I2mo. pages, with several Cno illu.^tiations, and 

C sells at SI 00 in cloth, full gi"lt lack. tl 

Fro7n the Sentinel, J,a\rrcnce, l^Iar.s. 
I Tbi«« story, revealing?, as it doe?, mnnv of the dark spots upon the history of Pa- 
pacv in America, will be fought after and widely read by those who dc-irc to be- ^ 
bold the system of Romani.-m unni::-kcd, and standini; forth in nil its hidcmis de- ^ 
formitv. The author states, in his prc-fu.^e, the incidents lea<ling to \i\6 being put ^^ 
in jx)sicssion of the facts, fmin the mouth of one of the principal actors m the sketch, 
^] a former Roman Catholic Priest. 

From the Journal, Clinton, Mass. 
This work has for its object the keeping in f^rpctual ren:embranco the monstrous ^ 
evils of that svstem of theology that binds down the conscience, nnd lays claim to [J^ 
implicit obedience on the part of all its followers. The plot of the talc is deeply fc 
\J laid, and puriorts to have its iuundation in truth. The incidents are of that .start- ;/ 
T, Wwr' character, that whoever commences the reading will continue to the terrible ij 
?s' denouement, the violent death of Madelon, and the speedy retribution that followed jj 
( the crimes of the infamous Father IJeustace. ^ 

'/ From the Am. Presbyterian, Plalaclt'phia, Pa. i\ 

%l This, as its title page denotes, is a tule of horrors. Its scene Is laid in Philadel- a 
{ < phia. its chief actor being a Jesuit Priest, under whose sacred exterior lie hid mur- "^ 
': der and all wickedness. The writer is evidently fully convinced of the yileness of X 
\ the Romish priesthoor.d, and gives his imagination full play in depicting it. -^ 

J-', For terms to Agents, (or a sample copy, if you wish it, for which $i 00 must be , 
^^ enclosed,) address, jj^ DAYTON, Fubllsher, 

U 107 NASSAU-STRP-IET, N. Y. 



y A BOOK FOR THE TIMES. 'J 

^ JUST PUBLISHEI), ^ 

[\ THE 

|LIFE OF CEAS. SUMIEU!^ 

^j WITH CHOICE SPECIMENS OF ^ 

fsi Eloquence, a pdincation of Ijis ©ratorical Cilljavactcr , 3 

IJ AND HIS *J 

I^GREAT SPEECH ON KANSASJ 



BY D. A. MARSHA, 

Author of" Eniiuent Orators and Statesmen,',' etc., etc. 



WITH A FINE PORTRAIT OF MR. SUMNER, 

AND AN ENGEAYING RBPRESENTINU 

THE ASSAULT IN THE SENATE CHAMBER. 
12mo. 350 pages. Price One Dollar. 

From the New England Farmer, Boston, Mass. 

This tribute to our nohle and eloquent Senator is very neatly executed, and v 

will gratify the witihes of thousands, who desire to know more of the personal his- Ll 

tory of the m;in who has made so bold a mark upon his age. It is not a romantic ,^ 

or eventful life that is here recorded ; but it is one full of instruction for they oun'^'. 'o 

''} 



f,' full of encouragement to the timid, and full of interest to all. 



; , From the Salem Observer, Mass. i \ 

This is an excellent and timely book. It will find a ho.«t of readers. It is 'Q 
j, ' embellished with a portrait of Sumner, and a view of the assault upon him in the 'll 
Y'^ ^^enate Chamber. Mr. Ilarshais well known as the author of " Eminent Orators ^i 
iti and Statesmen." y 

(^J From the Worcester Daily Spy, Mass. »J| 

°,'1 The reader cannot rise from a perusal of this volume without fcclmgs of admi- ^ 
J«i, ration for Charles Sunmcr, the ripe scholar, the able lawyer, the eloquent oratorj 1^ 
fj the accomplished statesman, and the noble champion of freedom. A 

i^ From the N. Y. Chronicle. s5 

P We are glad to meet with a work like this before us, which presents Mr. Sum- *,Jf 
jl% ner as he is, and sets before its readers some of the gems of thought which have '^'i 
^ fallen from his lips and pen. 1^ 

|| From the Boston Herald. ^| 

'M Mr. Harsha is an ardent admirer of Mr. Sumner. He has given a neatly f^ 
^ written sketch of the life of this hero, with choice specimens of his eloquence, a de- 'v^ 
^,« lineation of his oratorical character, ard his great speech on Kansas. The volume 'I 
** has attractions for, and will be appreciated by, the friends of the Massachusetts -^ 
'.y* Senator. !_/ 

(< From the American, Laicrence, Mass. fi 

''k Every lover of , the chivalrous Sumner, and every admirer of his matchless ^ 
<;;* eloquence, should provide himself with this volume. t 

'A Sent by mail, Postage Paid, on receipt op the price. 
h g::^ AGENTS WANTED. Address, 

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'<IJu.if f:.r X^irr.i!;- „i MUS. MAP.Y ETTIE V. 5 
Jt SMITH, '^ -• •' - .' - of fhr .rr.rmon high ^ 

oof 3 



;>;• 



i: I) I T K I) li V 



I \ o 



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f^ ' "** Thi/« volume is th« nr\rrrttivo of tho p.^inful FiHccn Years' Exporienoe 

• ■.*'•, ^c 1 -i*. in nr!r . h:! I'- -> I wa- m-^ iir-i-ir t'n Mormon", an! who enjoyed 

• '• kini; nf fho svi'tprn. Snchij 

I I anil devclnpeil Ity a Sa- o 

■. ' -11 -.. 1.1 ■ .1 .../,i;...o, i.s iinpariillelo'l in the') 

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riiifi.xin, an<l i.-* f»reparo(I by in- Nl 
- of her statements. The work 

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morals, and every patriot who would have his nation and gtjvernmont purged of a 
^rcat national curse and crime. '' 

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AuUior of JMaddon JIawhy, i]'c., S^-c. 

12mo., beautifully Illustrated from designs by Orr, executed in 
the highest style of the art. Price $1. 

The author of Madelon Hawley is too well known in literary circles to re- 
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circulated and as generally perused throughout our land, have been crowned with 
flattering approval and success. 

YiOLA is not merely a work of fiction for which we claim the attention of the 
public, nor do its highest merits rest in creating a sensation. The high moral 
tone infused throughout its pages, sustained by irresistible logic, without detrac- 
ting from its interest, claim for it a place by every fireside. Viola, the high minded 
girl, who turns instinctively to the right path, as unerringly as the needle to the 
pole, though means are brought to bear agamst, and weigh down the strongest 
\ soul, claims our warmest sympathy. 

c Sophistry, deceit, fraud or violence allied cannot shake her exalted faith and 

\ womanly love. The manly and generous Kenneth, whose energetic heart knows 
c no such word as fail ; " Scip," the faithful black ; and on the other hand the 
' plotting Torillo and his reckless son, with their unscrupulous assistants, all crowd 
/ up before the enchained reader witli the distinctness of reality, until one seems 
( to live and move with the beings of imagination. Let every one read it, and 
K gain instruction as ^vell as delight from its pages. 

The sensation seeker, and intellectual epicure will read it— the one for its 
startling plot, and inexpressible interest, the other for its constant warnings to 
\ the right patb, and beautiful delineation of every-day life. Nothing has been 
< spared to renner this book attractive in every form. The illustrations pici^eiiting 
S some of the most thrilling scenes to the qjq of the reader, and executed in ertcc- 
/ tive style from designs by Orr, th:? well known artist. 

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107 NASSAU STREET, N. Y. ^ 



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JUST PUBLISHED, 

THE CITIZE^^S' MANUAL^ 

or k 

G0VER>3IENT AM) LAW: I 



Coiiiprlfling tho Elementary Principlca of Civil Government ; a pmctical View p 
of iho State GovcnjmcnL<«, and of tho Government of tho United Stntcs ; a Digest "^ 
of Common and Statutory Lnw, nn 1 of tho Law of Nations; and a Summary of : 
PariiaiucDtary Kulca for tho Tractioo of Dclibcralivo A33cmMio3: 

BY ANDREW W. YOUNG, 
Author of" Science of Government," ** American Statesman" Ifc. 



This work contain*— 

I A familiar illustration of tho principles of civil government ; including tho 
Nature and Necessity of Civil Government and Lawa ; a definition of rights and 
Liberty ; tho general Division and Distribution of Power in tho government of 
tho United States, and tho principal governments of Europe ; and tho origin and 
nature of Constitutional Government in the United States. 

2. A view of tho State Government?, showing the manner in which power is 
exercised in tho Legislative, Executive and Judicial Departments, and in tho 
County and Town Administrations ; with a Synopsis of tho Constitutions of all 
tho States, and some of the most important special laws of each State. 

3. Tho Government of tho United States— in this part is shown tho nature of 
the old Confederation a^iopted during tho war; a history of tho causes and tho 
successive steps which led to the formation of the Constitution ; with a brief com- 
mentary and sketches of debates in tho Convention of framers on some of the 
most important provL-ions of tho Constitution, especially those known as the 
" Great Compromises." 

4. Common and Statutory Law— embracing a great variety of subjects ; among 
which are tho rights of Ilusbani ind Wife, Minors, Masters, Apprentices and 
Servants; laws relating to the Desotftt of Property, Wills and Testaments, 
Deeds and Mortgages, Contracts, Partnership.', Promissory Note?, Bills of Ex- 
ch.nnge, Ac , Ac. fovCT 



11. X^AlTUiN'S I'UUL.KJATIUJNS. 

y 5. A Digest of the Law of Nations, showing the mutual Rights and Obligations H 
: of Nations, and the customs and usages which constitute the laws by which the "n 
J intercourse of Nations is regulated, the Just Causes of AVar, thB Rights andDu- I? 
' ties of Neutrals, Blockade, Right of Search, &c. *^ 

, 6. Parliamentary Rules, for the Grovemment of Public Meetings, Conventions fj 

- and other Deliberative Bodies. ?6 
r A knowledge of the principles and structure of .rr Government is of vast im- r-j 
I portance in this country, where every citizen is, or may become, an elector ; yet lA 
' a large portion of those who are invested with the rights of freemen, are sadly • j 
, deficient in their knowledge of the duties which, as a citizen, every man owes to fi 

■" his country. Questions of the greatest moment are often decided at the ballot ^ 
' bos by the votes of those who have never devoted a day to the study of the prm- '-^ 

(iples of our free institutions. [f 

To bring this information within the reach of the mass of our citizens, this work »J 

IMS been prepared ; and it is confidently believed that no other work containing p| 
'- ^0 much valuable information on the rights, duties and responsibilities of citizens, -^ 

md relating to the common concerns of life, and withal condenced within so small 

a compass, has never issued from the American Press. 
', To young men upon whom the government of this great and growing republic 
'" will soon devolve, this work is earnestly commended ; as also to the more adult 

- class of our citizens who have not had access to those voluminous works in which 
' this information has so long been concealed from the great body of our citizens, ^ 

ij This work contains about 450 pages duodecimo, is to be furnished to subscri- 3| 
^ bers, in cloth at 81,00 per copy, and in leather backs and comers at $1 ,25. 

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"THE CITIZENS' MANUAL" 

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5 LIFE lif THE NORTHERN POOR-HOUSE. ( 

^ 12mo. ILLUSTRATED. Price $1.25. ^ 

> -♦- ^| 

^ Tlii8 8tory of New Esoland's Ch.kttei.s prosonfs an interosting, f' 

J ^^v^\\^^ unexpoctcH, nay, »ad, if not revolting picturo of New Eno^land's ^ 

Bocictv and ciistorn. It will strike the reader willi astonisliinent that f 

. io this hifrjily refilled, educated, pious and free sooietv, there are de- . 

^ fljrat^f'd, public human chattels — bone of their bone, flesh of tlieir flesli, k 

^ — jii.'H. W(^iiieii and children, hold in the bands of the town and sold to ^' 

i be supported, often on the block, to the lowest bidder — who are kept *^ 

^ on the poorest food, and in abject, comfortless condition, miserably ^ 

■^ hoHsi'.l, clad in raifs, denied many a privilege that other men claim ^ 

Hud practice as their incontrovertible right. r 

^ Tite paupers of New England represent fallen, broken fortunes, 
^ character and health. Often there are found in the damp and cold 
^. moms of the poor houses, those who have professed the religion of 
i ,]eai!> Christ, and have been accepted Communicants at his own 

1 ' ' ^ 

^ TUe. ^ ...)lic will read these piiges with the deepest interest. At f^ 

i tlip South they will be received with astonishment, revealing as they ^ 

V do, a condition of society, that, in as far as it goes, can scarcely have f 

(7_ [over.] ^ 



^^^..^^ ^^^^ -^^ "^.J^ >^^^ ^^^^ ^^..^ ^^.^^ ^^..^ ^^.^^ '^.^^ ^ 
a rival, and can hardly bear the exposure which so much vice, neg- 
lect and barbarity loudly demands. Here is revealed a system of 
supporting the poor of the NewEnglai:! Parishes, or Towns, which, f^ 
as it belongs to New England, the free and glorious North, outrivals, , 
we had almost said, the slavery of the South in its meaner aspects. s. 
This book must startle the North. We mistake, if it be not re- ^ 
o-arded as containinir a most terrible censure of our own Northern ^ 



Nj ways, expedients and subterfuges. 

r It is a genial story with all its frankness, and mournful truths. 
J We laugh with Mag Davis, while we shrink from her polluting pre- k^ 
L sence. We pity James, and tremble at his youthful vice, while we ^ 
^ are proud of his long tangled locks and coarse raiment, and bold de- ^ 
^ fiant temper and words. ^ 

r The reader sees here the selfishness of society, and he makes up ^ 
^ his mind that there is nothing meaner, 'nothing more reprehensible T 
^ than the pauper system, laws, and practices of New England. ^ 

J The cuts are descriptive of character, as the book brings it out, f^ 
^ diffusing from first to last, and are intensely gratifying. They make £y 
^ the work attractive and more highly effective. ^ 

\ We hope it will inaugurate a new system in regard to the thou- T 
L sands of wretched paupers in the towns of the North, whose princi- ^; 
^ pal crime seems to be their poverty. '^ 

^ Agents ivanted in all parts of the Country to en- f 

^ gage in tlie sale of tlds Booh A sample copij will he ^ 

^ seni hy mail {postpaid) on receipt of tlie price. \ 

f 
Address, s^ 

H. DAYTON, Fuhlishcr, ^[^ 

107 NASSAU-STREET, NY. -^ 



)_ 



f.^^^ ^^^ 0"-^ .^^^.^^^.jr-^.^^^^J^'^ .^"^.J^^^.^^^ 



) i^IilAV AVORIvIl 



AM* 

HOUSEKEEPEES' GUIDE. 

8vo., Pap'T. price GO Cents, 



We believe that do one can r^ul the contents of this work, witliot.t U^ln-: 
ttjnvincvtl of lla prwit ehcapnew nn<I utility. 

litre will be f«i«nil about uOO reciix*. embracing the very kst »lircctionH f • r 
the IVh.i\iiir lUjJ Eti«n:cttc of Latlicji un<l Gcnthincn ; laxdicH' Toilette 'luliU- : 
Safe l^nreitlonH for the MiUiagitneut of ChiMren ; and a large variety of plmn 
commou Bt'u.se Reciixason Cookery, &c., &c.,&c. 



^O* " 

T^f^BLE or co2srTi::x<rTS. 
PART I. 

A»tl.i!)a, Ctir"" of l;illious Chnlic ; Billioun romplalntw : Bite < f 
al ll.o l,UDfr«, ::*tomach, ami from the Ni»e : l',\iu}i]y Urine 
1 . 'ren : Burn or t'caM : B;irrn : (.nnccr : (.alluH : Catairli : <'er 

I 1 , . ; : t i, .';..:i : tholera Jlorbun : Connumiition. No. 1 : ('on«iimpti%e Cou^l) : 
< ier: ConTuUioii Uta : Cornii : (J'iiiliven«»«a in thiiMren : Coujjhs ami Colds in Cliil- 

. : Cough, Kecip* f<>r : Coursos. painful • Cow- pox : Cramp in xha Momach : Croup, 

Nu. 1 I . up, No. 2 : Culling Toelh : L)*afu»'Mii : lieliriura Trenit-ns : DiubKen : IHarrlioea : 
Mstie-Mi afler" Fating: D^t>p^y : I>ropy«j of the Head: Drowning, reovtrj from : Uyneutery 
I)>i«j.epBi» : Farache, No. 1 : t^raclie, ^o. 2 : Kk-canipaign for a Cough : ipcleplic lil.s ; I-.yi- 
lutlitbiiiiatioD of: F.jen, t^or« an>l Weak : Fyes, Wt-epiiig : Falling of the Bowel.s in ( hildren 
F^lon in the Fje : Ftlon on th« Hand : l-rnialc Ob«truction« : Ferer and i\gue : Fever Son- 
Fits or ConTulflionn id children : Haxi.ee 1 lea : Fluor Albux : Fond for ChiMren : Food for In 
fanli brought up bj hand : Fro.it llite : Gleeta : Good I'.eniedy for Fits : Gout : (iravel or Morn 
No. 1 : Gravel or Stf>ne No. 2: Headache, tick : Hiccough : Hoarseness : HumorH, So. 1 
Hunior*, No. 2: Hjnterica ; Inflammatory Fever : Itch ; Jaundice : Joint.H, Stiffened : Keepin - 
Children clean : King'i F.vil : Lame Feet : Liver Complaint, No. 1 : I>jck Jaw : MeaBlen : Med; 
cine for Children : ilenstrual I»if!charpe« : Mortification : Mumps : Nervous Affectionn : Nij 
^ pies. Sore : Numb I'aUey : Old and Inveterate Sores : Old Sores, to Cure : Tains : I'ainter - 
) Cholic : lalpitation of the Heart : Tectoral Syrup for Coughs : Tiles : Tiles, Bleeding : i'lahi 
) ic : Timplear ToiRon*. taking, Tartar Inietic : Toifcus. .-altpetre, I.audanum, Lunar Causti.-, 
) Corro-<. Sublimate • Tolypua : Rai.ing Blood : F^tllesn.ike Bite : Rattles in Children : Becip( 
\ for Hheumativm : F.emedy for J'rop!<y in the Head : Kheumatic Tlanter : Rickets, Symplon - 
V of: Rickets, Remedy for. Ring Worms: Rupture: Salt Rheum : Scarlet Fever: Scrofnl.i, Hum. 

=«rofula: Scrofula, Remedy lor : Scurvey ; Sleep, to procure it ; Smallpox: Sore Throat, T.- 

^ krid : Sore l^egs : Sore Ijps : Spine Compiaints : Sprains ; St. Anthony's Fire : Stom 4fh Sick 

^ oe** : StrenKlheniijg Plaster ; Strained Stomach : St. Vitus' Dance : Sweat : Swellings, t . 

.-•duce ih«Mn ; .-««^i, J j's .No, .; ; Tape Worm ; Teething and Diarrhoea in Children ; lie ()olii 

^ [Continued on ntxl pagr 



GD 



-^ "INDISPENSABLE COMPANIO> —CoiUtiits ConUnued. '^^ 

reaux ; Toothache, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 ; Treatment of i lildren ; Typhus Fever ; Ulcer j Ulcer \ 

Inward ; Universal Cure all ; Urinary Discharges, too fr « ; Urinary Obstructions ; Varioloid ; (^ 

Volatiie Liniment ; Vomiting prevented ; Warts, Na. A Warts, No. 2 ; Weak Eyes ; Weak ^ 

LiiQbs ; Weak Stomach \ Wen ; White Mixture for 9 K dugh, No. 1, No. 2 ; Whiles ; While ^ 

Swelling ; Whooping Cough, No. 1 ; Whooping Cou-jh, ^ • 2 ; Windj Stomach ; Worms. ") 

PART IL S 

Cakes, Errid, Yeast, t u c 

Apple Pnow : Baker's Ginger Bread : Best Cup Cake : B.e kfaat Butter Cakes : Brown or Pys- v 

pepsia Bread: Buckwheat Cakes: Butter Cakes for Tes* : (ike without Eggs: Common I'lum »w 

Cake : Composition Cake : Cream Cup Cake : Cream Cake : C earn Cake, No. 'I : Cake, Kich small : f 

Dyspepsia Cake : Dough Nuts : Dyspepsia Bread : Ginge- J read : Ginger Nuts : Ginger Snaps : ? 

Good Family Cake : Green Corn Cake : Hard Wafers : Kcd* ake ; Icing for Cakes ; Indian Cakes ; ) 

Indian Corn Cakes ; Indian Griddle Cakes ; Jelly Cake ; lu nbles ; Lemon Cake ; Light Cake to . 

be Baked in Cups; Loaf Cake ; Lemon Pie; Measure '^a) »; Molasses Dough Cake; Muffins ; ) 

New York Cup Cake ; Plain Indian Cakes ; Plum Cake ; I'ound Cake ; Kich Jumbles ; Kolls ; <. 

Rye and Indian Bread; Rice Waftles ; i^ecd Cakes ; ^^avo -' Cakes ; Sugar Ginger Bread ; Sym- ( 

bals ; Tea Cake, No. 1 ; Yeast — to make it good ; do. Milk , do. of Cream Tartar and Saleratua. f 

PiBs, Prkskrves, Jellibs, Saccb, &o. 

Apple Sauce ; Arrow Root Custard ; Barberries, to Preserve ; Black Currant Jelly ; Blanc- 
Mange ; Calf's Foot Jelly ; Conserve Roses ; Currant Jelly ; Curries : Curry Powder ; Damsons, 
to Preserve ; Family Mince Pie ; Peach Jam ; Pumpkin Pie ; Raspberry Jam ; Rice JeUy ; 
Squash Pie ; Strawberry Jam ; Spruce Beer ; Tomato Catsup ; Tomato Sauce. 

PCDBIXG3. 

Arrow Root Pudding ; Boiled Indian Pudding; Bird's Nest Pudding ; Christmas Plum Pud- 
ding ; Dam.son Pudding ; Indian Fruit Pudding ; Orange Pudding ; Plum Pudding ; Rice Pud- 
ding, Baked or Boiled ; Rich Apple Pudding ; Sago Pudding ; Sauce for Pudding ; Tapioca Pud- 
ding 

Mrat, Fish, Gravus, 8tc. 

Boiled Beef: Beef Balls ; Beef, Cold Tenderloin ; Beef, Cold Steaks, to warm ; Beef, Minced ; 
Beefsteaks Broiled ; Boiled Ham ; Boiled Salmon; Bread Sauce ; Broiled Cod ; Broiled Ham ; 
Broiled Salmon ; Broiled Salmon, Dried ; Cabbage Soup ; Caper Sauce ; Chicken, good way to ) 
prepare ; Chicken Pie ; Chicken Pot Pie ; Chicken Salad ; Chicken Suup ; Chicken Soup, No. ) 
2 ; Chowder, how to make : CodQsh, salt, Stewed ; Codfish, Salt ; Cod, or other Fish, to Fry ; ) 
Codfish Cakes ; Cold Boiled Cod, to make a dish •, Cold Slaw : Dried Codfish ; Dried Cod, a \ 
small dish ; Dried Salmon ; Egg Sauce ; Fried Cod ; Fresh Mackerel Soused : Fried Sausages ; ( 
Fried Shad ; Haddock ; Lobster Soup ; Mackerel, Salt ; Melted Butter ; Minced Meat ; Mock ( 
Turtle Soup ; Mutton Broth ; Mutton, to boil Leg of ; Mutton Chops ; Mutton, to stew shoul- t 
der of ; Oyster Mouth Soup ; Oysters, to Fry ; Oyster Sauce ; Parsley and Butter ; Pig, to ,- 
Roast ; Pork Steak; Roast Pork ; Sandwiches ; Sausage Meat ; Sausages ; Sweet Bread, Liver, \ 
and Heart ; Salmon ; Salmon to Broil ; Savoy Soup ; Shad, to broil ; Shad : Shell Fish ; Spare C 
Rib : Stewed Lobster : Stewed Oysters • Stock for Gravy Soup or soup : Turtle Soup : Tripe ; ( 
White Sauce for Boiled FowL ^ f t- t- ^ , ^ 

Vegctables, &c. ( 

Cabbage : Coffee, how to Make : Green Peas : Mashed Potatoes ; Onions ; Potatoes, to Boil; ( 
Turnips. r 

PART III. I 

MiSCEIXAN-EOrS. • ( 

Apples, Preserved ; Blacking, to make ; Britannia Ware, to Clean ; Cucumbers, to Pickle ; ; 
Ice Cream ; Keep out Red Ants ; Oysters, to Pickle ; Take Ink from Floors ; Washing Recipe, ^ 
celebrated. ( 

Ladies' Toilbttb Tablb. 

Dress ; Evening Dresses ; Flounces ; High-necked Dresses ; Lotion for Promoting the 
Growth of the Hair, and Preventing it trom turning Grey ; Style of Bonnet ; Short Cloak : 
to prevent Loosening of the Hair : to Cure Ringworm. 



1 



The way to set a copy of the LADIES' INDISPENSABLE COMPANION 

is to send us 50 cents in postage stamps, and we will send you a copy hj ) 

return of mail, postage paid, Address ) 

II. DAYTON, PuhUsher, \ 

107 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. ' 



-J- 



I 

w BOOK, run sif'Enir Fu.uii.r'. i 



AND 

8vo., Pnpcr. Price 60 cents. 

riiia Book makes known somo of the most remarkable discovrrlcs in IIougeLold 
AtTairtt. Many uf thtaic liccipcs liavc never bctoro l)cen pulilishi'il, uinl actiuilly 
ctwt from $.10 to $oO each ; un<l we l>clievo that the Contrnts U'low will stPDni,^- 
ly I the Woik to the I'atrun.ijjf «»f every Fiunily in the laiul. Here will 

I ' ;>ie iiii'uruiuUuu U[>ou u variety uf im|KirUuit subjects, from the best 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

I .. r I .-■n- 4r'i /,v '-'-/ .- ' '■ iH • .'/ A': ■i^;:..' Crlcbr.-if '•■l C'hiiic-<e Ct'nient, fv>r 

>(. . itikC TroMH or Manifold Writer, 

K' .rite with Water; rowi't-r for 

\U , . .' for rt'inoviiij? raint. iirt'iiso- 

•|>ot», kc. ; \'v i>r t'eiliuKM, k<i.\ l'iiiiir]>us'<e(l 

blacking; In^v riif I.inua willj Type; For In- 

dt'lib'.e Ink; < - -•' -,■■•• Water; to tak • till iustantly 

!h»» '"opy of H ►•at i'aptT for Kniwiug ; to mak' Water Oil for 

Patntem ; to \ il and Oil; to rrnpare (Jim (JoUon ; to K«iiiove 

W •• ■ - '• ' • . ....• . ...j ■-. .wii for Lucifer Matclu«.i ; I,f>mori ^yrup ; To make 

.v\ - ; A Wai«»rproii| i.l lo ; fVlebrate-l lU-cipc for >ilver Wa.nb ; Hciiiurk- 

a> .. juod ■ Gold aod tiUver Ckiiu Iietector \ Iron Cement ; Woud C<imeut ; 

'ART \\.—Intxau<ii>le Rmpeafor FlimilUs.—To uetColors Fant in CalicoeH and other Goods : to 

•- i^e SUiim out of M.ii. -.i. t.. ;:-,'..• c..!.!-, t;ik«»n out by Aci-Ji ; to take Mildew out of 
Uneo ; to Clean ba.l! i "1 Ant.H , to tlt-ause Black Veil.^ ; to Tlean 

Brit.iunia or Mlver ; ' n ; Hard Soap ; Method of Geanini? China ; 

to r « i,,.,i I ... •■,;rve llainH ; I^hor saving Hoaj) ; To Clenn 

I. llearlha; to Clean Mahoi^any aud Marble Furni 

t.. 1 I'hials and Pie Plates ; to Cleanse Feather KedM 

»i. , ;rijni Window Clasn ; tc extract Stains from Wiiiie 

C. , Kxtraci (Jrea-»e from SilkH. Tajer, Woolen (io ids. and Floors , 

t<, : Woolen (JfMjd.H ; to Hemove Staint from llroadcloth ; to Ex- 

tr». . -v wMu .,..-., .... .... .i.xture of Colors ; N'ame<» ol Principal iJyeing DruijH ; Cause.* for 

the H..Minif ot Colors ; Unie Water ; of Ulue. Black ; to make Chemic Blue and Green ; on Dye- 
in? Silks in the Small or F»U« Dye ; for Discharging Colors ; Lik'ht Blue Silkn, Green Silks ; A 
TCry pretty Hair Brown ; for Slate col.red SilkH ; for a Stone colore«l Silk ; to Make Half Violet 
or l.ilac ; to Dye a Shawl Crimson ; to make ne:»h Colors ; for a Common Shawl ; for Dyeing 
Straw and Chip PAjnneta ; for Dyeing .-ilk Stockinv* Black ; on Dyeing Black.s and Browns ; to 
Uke SUin of Dye from Hauda ; T.r Bleaching Cotw:n ; for Slate-colored Cotton ; for an Olive 
Green ; for a Full Yellow ; to Dye a Pelis.se Black ; to Dye Woolen Stuffs Black ; A Pretty Ked 
Brown, very bright, the Dye costing but sixpence ; for Dyein;,' F5l;.ck Ch)th a l>ark Green ; Direc- 
tions for Washing Calicoes ; for Cleaning Silk Goods ; for Washing White Q.tton Cloths ; for 
Washing Woolens ; to Clean Woolen and Silk Shawl*. 



( I'ART IV.^Iinp^rtanf. IrKtructinx to Tmirvj Ladies and YmtTvi Ofna^mtn \n Rf'v^d. tn Dre-f, ( 

t Cleanitrw.t rf-c— The Dre^a, tveuing Dre.^es ; the Hal, Hi:,'h neck i'lfsf^e'; ; Hounces, Tuck-.; / 

; Short Cloaks. Dressing the Hair ; Caps. Purity of Breath; Important Units to \oung Men : .--tyU ^ 

^ and Drew of Genilemea : Cho.ca of a Wife ; How to Treat a. Wife ; A (i- -de l» all Things. ) 

{Ccniinuid 0n ntxi prge. ) 

Q ^„_^ .-.-.. ..^^.--^^. ' i^ 



P ABTS EEVEALED.— Cbn/^n^ Continued. "^; 

S PiST T .—Ne^Mnncyrk for Young Ladies, erKhracing Instructions in Emhroid^ry on IfvsUn, Srik ( 
f Velvet a^-.— Embroidery with FIops. three-corded 8ilk, Chenille. Worsted, &c. ; lUiNed L-mbroid- 
ery • ^-.itch-'s iu Embroidery on Muslin and I-^ce W'^rk ; Double Button hole Much ; lilovei-'g 
Stitch Kveiet Hol^s ; Kmbroidery, Featber Stitch ; Formauon of Dara ; Buttonhole s^titch, 
Darniu" •'• Fvelet holes in Lace work ; Interior Stitch. Chain Stitch ; Veiiiin? Open Heiu ; I'earl- 
iu.T Liui»s ■ \stnught Open Hera ; Hah" Herring bone Stitcii : Tambour Stitch, >pots on Net ; Lm- 
broidery on Muslin ; Embroidery in Gold Thread ; liL-tructionB in Lace-work ; Embroidery lor 
Insertion ; Things to be Kemembereii. 

Fart M— Rules oj PoliltntiZ fvr Ladies and GenOemm.— Rules of Politenee* ; Models of Inyita" 
tion Ciirl.^ ; How to Address a Lady ; I^au^uage of the Finger Ring ; Kules of Conversation ; 
Young l-eople'3 Primary Instruction in the Art of Drawing. 

Part \'Tl.—MixceUanenus i?eap«.— To,keep the Hair from'falling off; Oil for'theHair, to make 
it Curl ■ to Cure Freclcles, Shaving Soap ; Tincture for Diseaaod Gums ; P.ed Bottle Wax ; White- 
wash that will not Rub oU ; to make Cloth wind and rai' . r.of ; Feathers, Icy Steps ; to Polish 
Stoves Black Ball ; Inflamed Eyes ; to Blacken the Eyelar'; . lo Perfume Clothes ; Certain Cure 
for Eruptions, I'implea, &c.; Cheap, white House Faint ; ContVctiouery ; Ornanienlal Frostin^? ; 
to Cluriiy Sugar for Candies ; Fine Peppermint Loiengos ; Icing for Cakes ; SalTron Lozenges ; 

Strawberry Ice Cream. ) 

Part VHT.— I^ Doctor at Home.—'Scvr Cure for Consumption, Scrofula, Rickets, Diarrhaea, &c. ; ) 

Cure for a Nail Run into the Foot ; Fever and Ague ; Cure for the Toothache ; A very btrei!:^th- ) 

enio'-' laink • Cure for Rheum-itism ; Very Valuable Remedy for Rheumatism ; Cure for Hydro- S 

rihobia ; Tonic Bitters, Bowel Complaints ; Inflammation of the Bowels ; Common Canker, Gravel; ^ 

Prevention of Bihous Fever ; Consumption ; Hypochondria, or Hysteric Passion ; P.abes, or Hy- ( 

drophobia- Incubus, or Nightmare ; Cough Compound, Canker Cure ; Piles, Dysentery : Pain in ( 

the Bre;ist or Side; Convu^ -.n Fits, Inward Ulcers ; Sore Eyes, Numb Palsy ; Flying Plheuma- / 

tism : Rheumatic Oil, Soo-.nmg Lotion ; Dypcntery Specific, particularly for Bloody i»ysentery ; ; 

Invalid Cordial ; Balm of Life, Headache Drops ; for aean.^i^g and Purifying the Blood ; for i 

StrengtL*^ning and Invigorating the Neryea ; A ShruiJc Sinew or Stiff Joint; Cancer of the \ 

Breast ; Remedy for Cancer. C 

Part IX.— Medical Qualilies of Roots and fiVrbs.— Black Alder : Alum Root— An?elica : Thorn S 
Apple ; Arrow-Root — Avens Root : Asarura, or Swamp A.'^arabacca : Agrimony : Beech Drops: \ 
I'earberry : Five Fingers, or Cinquefoil : Crawley, or Fever Root : Comtrey, Feather-few : Black- \ 
berry : Dan leliou_U ild Turnip . Blood Root— 1 borough wort : Indian Tobacco: Wlntergreen : f 
Burdock— Pleurisy Root : Queen of the Meadow : CicuU, or Poisoc Hemlock : Bread Leaved > 
laurel • Sweet Flag. Rose Willow : Dogwood, Dwarf Elder : American Gentian: Samp-son >uake- ' 
root : Foxglove, Tobacco : Mustard, Mallows : Oak Bark, Deadly Nightshade : American Ipecac, 
or Indiau Physio : Camomile : Rhubarb Root : Mandrake, or May Apple : Colt's Foot, Bitter-: 
sweet: Pokeweed : Shumuch, orShoemake: Slippery ilim. I'oplar : Sanicle, Black Snake rootr 
Skunk Cabba.e : Tansy: Wormwood, Hor.'ie R.idish : King's Evil Weed: Oak of Jerusalem, o: 
Worm-eed : American" Senna : Yellow Dock, Gravel Weed ; Sarsaparilla, Beth Root : Tag Alder : 
Lano-worth, Ladies' Shpper : Rattlesnake's Plantain, Blue Flag: Sa'^safras, River Willow: 
MiP/wced : Peach Tree, Valerian : Butternut Tree, Ground Pine : Blue Kohosh : White Poppy : 
Peppennint, C harcoal of Wood : Ergot, Smut Rye. or Spurred Rye : Hops : Sweet Fern : Mea- 
dow SalVron : Witch Hazel • Prickly Ash : Directions for Coliectiug and i'reserving Vegetables ; ■ 
Roots, Seeds and Fruits : Leaves and Flowers. ( 

P^RT X. Diseases "f CWIrZr<7i.— Treatment of Infant? ; Infant's Syrup ; Cholera Infantum, S 

Hiccups ; Griping and Hatulency ; the 'Ihrush. l^iarrhjea ; Cutaneous Eruptions ; i-'alling d<)Wi> ^^ 

c*' the Fundauieut ; Dentition or Cutting Teeth ;' Convulsious. the Rickets ; Inward Fits ; Didtor- ( 

tion of the Spiue ; Dropsy on tlie Brain, or Hydvocephaius, Causes, Treatment: lutiamuia- ( 

tion of the Trachea, Hives, Rattles, or Croup ; Croup, Symptoius, Causes, Treatment : tbe ^ 

Sleep of Infants : the Yellow Gum : Aphthos or Thrush, Acidities ; Galling and Excoriation : ;• 

Vomiting. j 

Part XIT. Accidents or Emergencies. — How to be Prepared for Accidents and Emergencies ; Re- 
medies for Poisons ; for Corrosi\e Sutrliraate ; Sugar of l^ad ; for Opium, Laudanum, Hemlock, ) 
and other Vecretable Poisons ; for Tartar Emetic ; Bite of a Rattlesnake ; for Oil of Vitriol, Tar- ) 
taric or Prus>ic Acid, or any other Acid ; for Potash or oUier Alkalies ; for Arsenic. Drowned v, 
Persons ; Cautions in Visitinar Sick Rooms ; Security again.st Lightning ; The Tongue ; to make \ 
Leeches Take Hold; Ca>tor-Oil made Palatable ; Poultices ; to Purity the Atmosphere of a Sick (* 
Room -Importance of Well-Ventilated Apartments ; Tnree Rules for Preserving Good Health ; ; 
ConsuT'^Taiou ; Codfish Liver Oil for Cocsumplion ; Rules for Diet and Digestion ; General Rules J 
for i're^x'rving Life and Health ; Sir R. Philip's Rules ; Dr Boerhaave's Rules. ^ 

" The way to get a copy of ARTS REVEALED, is to send us 50 cents in ( 
I postaoe stamps, and we will send you a C(>})v bv return of mail, postage pai.]. \ 
\ ° Address, H. EAYTCW, Publisher, } 

Lj 107 NASSAU-ST.,N.Y. rH 



n DAYTON'S riBLICAl ONS 

(Uncrn farmer sljoiilb l)auc a vCoptj. 



THE 



S;. KAllMER'S HAND BOOK; \ 



^ 



•: Chemistry Applied to Agriculture,'; 



rilK ONLY rROriTARI.K MKTllOP OF 

TILLING THE SOIL. 

J. E. KENT^ A. M, M. I). 
p 1 81110., Cloth, Price 25 Cents. 

V| Wo Wrr\n U* fiml that Ibo irrcat question of iIjo day in nil onr lar^e 
fi . , ' '- ■ 'M cxchaniTo.ns upon tlio 

V ' w it may w<'ll ho .sai»l, 
V! : _ _ . ,, '0 bnt ono blado urcw 
(•j',|ciiro is t '''l- ItiiH Im tlic work of agricultural 
fichrn.i^trv V "'Ut this cliomical knowlodire, the lands , 
>of Ihef.rrmcr'wiil !».>on U-coii.e unpmhictivc, notwithstandms it may ; 
fc be hi-hlv manured and laboriously worked. Still m a-ld.tiori to bom- , 
r.a practiJal man, in order to bo a successful farnuM- he must understand. . 
> in a mra-sure. the nature of the crops ho raises, the character and cjm- ; 
t'Mituents of the soil on which they arc grown, and the d.dcrent kinds of , 
r, manures and compost most suitable to prevent exhau>l.on of ddlerent , 

V kinds of land: thereby, with the aid of agricultural chemistry he ; 
U wealth of the United StaU-s could bo doubled m one year, wore al hat 
1; saved which is now lost bv bad management. In short, the wealth of, 
^all nations de,»ends upon the rising generation of practical chemicnl ^ 

^' farmers, who will till the soil as much by the laws of chemistry as b> 
, the swokt ..f the brow ; and the simple factij and information contained . 
in this little volume, for ( 

ONLY TWENTY-FIVE CENTS, ; 

y^ Cannot be esiimated in dollars and cents, and sliould be in the hnnds of ; 
teverv man in this country as a book of reference, even if he improves 
Z noticing more than a garden spot of twenty-live feet square. 

t^ SL'nd us twenty-five cents in a letter, and we 
wili^nd you a copy by return of mail, post-paid. 
Address 
II. DAY^TOX, Publisher, 

107 NA.-.-AL'-3TIlEET, N. Y. 




H. DAYTON'S PUBLLCATiOJSS. 

id A BOOK THAT WILL PLEASE THE ClllLDliEN. L 



I 

A COLLECTION OF .| 

HIEEOGLYPHICAL EEBUSES, PUZZLES, | 

EIDDLES, CONUNDRUMS, ENIGMAS ^ 

and QUESTIONS for the CUllIOUS; ^ 

SELECTED FROM ij 

MERRY'S MUSEUM ^ PARLEY'S MAGAZIl. I 

Wlin LARGE ORIGINAL ADDITIONS, 

By ROBERT MERRY &, HIRA3I HATCHET. 



PRICE 25 CENTS, 



Robert Merry to his fricnJs 

A kindly greeting sends, 
With a general as.^ortinent of Questions, 

Conundrums, Charades, 

Puzzles, Riddles of all shades, 

And Rebuses, as aids 
To intellectual and social digestion. 



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Now, if any of you wish 
Tor a real spicy dish, 
That ^^•iIl tickle your palate like nectar — v 
That will serve for nuts and wine 1-^ 
When you sup, or luneh. or dine, '^ 
And your inner man refine — 
Make " iMerry's Book of Puzzles" your t 
reflector. 
Every collection of children will want one — and some of the older folks will be 
likely to glance at the curious pictures. — [Journal, FortsmoiUk, N. II. 

It will furnish amusement for the young folks during a whole winter of evenings .^ 
at home. — [Wliig, Bangor, Me. § 

There is no pleasanter and safer amusement for young people thiin the exercise ^ 
of their wits on Conundrums, Charades, Puzzles, «tc., and many a little coterie, to ^ 
say nothing of the p:\pas and mammas, will thank Mr. Merry for this abundant ::)q 
contribution to their festivities, which are an ever renewing plearure, as they will »| 
never wear out, while the memory serves to return and reproduce them for sue- ^ 
cessive audiences. — [Inquirer, Nantucket, Mass. *Jt 

Merry's Book of Puzzles will cause a wreath of smiles on the face of any juvenile *j 
that may be the fortunate recipient. Such a fund of instruction and ajiu-ement 1^ 
for the juvenile community was never published before. It will please alike the 'J 
old folks and the young ones, — and no one should be without such a cheap and 
pleasant source of amusement. 

The way to get '' Merry's Book of Puzzles," is to send us t^ 
twenty-hve cents, in a letter, and we will send a copy by re- J) 
turn of mail. Pos^tage paid. — Address, y^ 




AYTOTT, Publisher, 

107 NASSAU-ST., N. 



SI^^?C4sSSS2^^.42it3S^^ 



.TON'S PUBLICATIONS 

^ Uncle Frank's 

Ipleasant paces, 

f: FOPt THE FIRESIDE. 

A MISCELLANY OF 

[>|tL:iIc5, l^hctfljcs, (LtMs, ^liognipljir, '^istarn,) 

POETRY, ETC. 

i;v 
FRANCIS C. WOODWOllTPT. 

12ino., cloth, beautifully illustrated 7 5 cts, 

Mr. Woiulworth has \*m^ been known to tlio juve- f^ 
\ nilc World, and childri'n will find tln'ir anticipations of ^ 
a d«di;;htt\il treat realized in the above volume. It is 
filled with choice anecdotes, stories, instmctive articles, 
' poetry, &c., and we think is one of the most entertain- ^ 
' mg children's books that have been published for many 
a day. Parents will find it a most capital book for a 
J present. 

I Prtrm the New York Chronicle. 

I This i.s a hook of all kinds of sliort articles and storins, illustrated by 
y woo<l-cul.s, for tlie instruction and entertainment of children and youth. 
I Even njcn and women would no douht feel as much interest<'d in it a.s , 
!^ llje younger meml>or.s of their family, as it is full of infonnation .i1»<»ut 
^ a thousand things of which they probably never before hen'-l " is a' 
I 12mo., of 314 pp. 
J Prom the Scirs, lyncdl, Mass. 

k,! The matter embraced in the book before us is cliaate and instruc- 
'« tive, and of the right kind to be laid before young people by their* 
■ parents. 

From the TranScr'pt, Boston, Mats. 
This is a capital work for juvenile readers. The author possesses the i 
rare gift of writinu so as to .secure the attention of young people, lle^ 
is a genial and much loved " Uncle" to a wide circle of readers. 

its' Sent by mail, postage paid, on receipt of 75 ^ 

♦ cents in postage stamps. Address, 

♦ H. DAYTOT:. Publisher, L' 
fi 107 ■ ;:t, n. y r 



H. DAYTON'S PUBLICATIONS. 



I FROM THIS WORLD I O THAT WHICH IS TO COME. 

P Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream. 

^ BY JOHN BUNYAN. 

M With Original Notes by Thomas Scott, Chaplain to the Lock Hospital. 



One beautiful 12mo. Volume, with fine illustrations. 
-0- 



Price $1. 



ElSf. 



THE 

villi's IflEllg 

BY RICHARD BAXTER. 

"With Extracts from an Introductory Essay, by Thomas Erski.xe. 
Large r2mo., on fine paper. Price $1. 



A Call to the Unconverted, 

WITH THE OKiaiNALi PREFACE. 

BY RICHARD BAXTER. 

Also an Introductory Essay, by Thomas Chalmers. 

12mo. Price 75 cts. 



THE CHRISTIAN SOUVENIR. 

AN ILLUSTRATED ANNUAL FOR ALL SEASONS. 

"With thirteen fine Steel Engravings. 

Large octavo, on fine calendered paper. Cloth, gilt sides, 82 ; cloth, full gilt, 
$2 50 ; English morocco, gilt, S3 ; Turkish morocco, super extra, $4. 



LIFE HDINTURES OF CAPT. JOHN SMITH. 

p Comprismg an account of his Travels in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. — 
^ Also the Early History of Virginia and New England, including sketches of Po- 
Y^ cahontas and Powhattan, Opecbanconough, and other distinguished characters. 
S Compiled from his own works. 12mo. Price 01. 

i 

n *;,;* Either of the above Books will be sent by mail, post- , 
n age paid, on receipt of the Price. Address, 

I H. DAYTON, Publisher, 

n 107 NASSAU STREET, N. Y. 



Ithe word and works of GOD.'^ 

BT 

REV. JOHN GILL, D.D. 

500 Pa2:cs, 12mo. - - - Prico $1.25. 



-o 



» Therepablicationof Dr. Gill's wrltingg, in a neat, cheap and portable form, 
t has looc; been called for, and the publi.-her believes that Christians, of alldenouii- 
* nations willlcnd a ready patronage to the entorpri:?o. 

; Amonn- the scholars of the past century (and there were giants in those days,) 

! Dr. Gill holds a hi?h rank. The University at Aberdeen awarded him the di- 

j ploma of Doctor of Divinity, " on account of his knowled2;e of the Scriptures, of the 

\ Oriental Lunguagc.^ and of Jewish Antiquities ; of his learned defence of the ^ 

Jj Scriptures against deista and infidels, and the reputation gained by his other ^ 

t. works." 

Js From. Rev. PharccUus Church, of New York. ^ 

ii '« Though the doctrines of that work may bo thought ultra Calvinistic, yet they 
{] accord to'every Chri.^iian's experience of the sovereignty of the grace that wrought 
5^ in his conversion, lie feels that the work is all of God, and done in pursuance of 
the eternal purpose which ho purposed in himself. It is not from our own spirit- 
'/; nal hi.^tory, nor from the text of scripture, that wo are led to question the doc- '( 
Vl trine of divine decree, sovereign grace, effectual vocation, and kindred truth.s, but a 
if I from unauthorized reasoning, as to what is consistent with our ideas of the moral r 
bi character of God, or the free agency of man, subjects too profound to be fuHy ox- 
JJ plored and reconciled with each other by our feeble and encumbered faculties. 
'f. ' Who art thou, Oh man I that repliest against God V " 
C8 From the Christian Chronicle, 

li "This work by Gill is of great value and interest. Dr. Gill was one of the s^ 
(\ clearest, soundest, and ablest writers on the character of the Bible and its teach- ^ 
hi ings, the church has ever produced. In this compendious work we hare spread ^ 
V betbre us, by this master in Israel, the attributes of God, and the doctrines of the J 
f gospel, in a manner such as we seldom find. lie lays hold of tho deep things of A 
yi God with such a firm gra.'=p, and presents them before us with such clearness, that ^ 
{• we understand him at'once, and become acquainted with tho teaching and spirit __ 
h of tho Bible in a wonderful manner. Dr. (Jill is a Theologian of the Old School, ,; 
C* but his Theology scents so strongly of the Bible, that it is difficult for mere popu- 
P lar, philosophising, and refining divines to overthrow it. We commend this work ^ 
}^ with great earnestness to our young and rismg ministry, as eminently adapted 
'l to their wanta." 

From Rev. William Croirell, of Missouri. 
'« This republication in this country, at tho present time, is an object, in my s^ 
opinion, greatly to be desired. The works of that great and good man have not >J 
^ been properly appreciated of late years, on account of the author's unattractive t^ 
U style of language. Could his massive thoughts be set forth m proper dress, they :^ 
' % could not fail to be highly valued." _ (^ 

Sent by mail, postage paid, on receipt of the price. f^ 

■ H. JDAYTON, Publisher, | 

107 NASSAU-STREET, N. Y. ^^ 






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